Best Of The Best -

If I told you there have only ever been 16 ‘Official World Number 1’ golfers, you’d assume the list would include Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson, and the other greats of the post-war era. You’d be mistaken, though, as the ‘Official World Golf Rankings’ only came into being in the spring of 1986 and were first topped by a meticulous German by the name of Bernhard Langer, before Seve Ballesteros took over just a few weeks later. That was a period of great success for European golfers, which now seems to have returned with the top four spots currently occupied by Messrs McIlroy, Donald, Westwood and Kaymer.

For the majority of 2011, the merits of the accolade ‘World Number One’ though were being widely questioned, primarily because the two players that had amassed the most points were both ‘Majorless’, a title some would consider as a prerequisite to being regarded as the world’s best. This week just gone, Rory McIlroy put that argument to bed. Perhaps the debate will now turn to how long he’ll stay there. Well, we have to quibble over something.

In truth, while it’s a proud title to hold, if you hypothetically put all 16 golfers in a room at the end of their careers to discuss personal triumphs, the bragging rights will doubtless centre on the number of Majors won, rather than the number of weeks spent at ‘Number One’. I’m sure the banter would be worth hearing among this elite group, but it makes an interesting discussion for us fans, too.

With this in mind, how might we order the players who have reached this pinnacle of the game? Forget the statistics for a second and let’s go purely on talent and, for the sake of argument, let’s allow for future potential. If you had to pick your top five, who would you choose? Below is the list of 16 ‘World Number Ones’ in chronological order (could you name them all without the help of Google?). You can vote by clicking the link here.

Bernhard Langer