Rose’s rise matches Faldo, Westwood and Donald
A look at the four Englishmen to have held the world number one ranking.
Justin Rose has become world number one after finishing second at the BMW Championship.
The 38-year-old is the fourth Englishman to top the world rankings, after Sir Nick Faldo, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, and here, Press Association Sport looks at each of the quartet.
Sir Nick Faldo
Faldo, 61, is a six-time major champion, having won the Open in 1987, 1990 and 1992 and the Masters in 1989, 1990 and 1996. He was world number one for a combined total of 97 weeks across four different stints, first occupying the spot in 1990 and last doing so in 1994.
Lee Westwood
While the 45-year-old’s CV is missing a major title, it shows runner-up finishes from 2010 at the Masters – where he has another joint-second place – and the Open. It was in October that year that he became world number one, and between then and late May 2011 he would hold the position for a total of 22 weeks, in two separate spells.
Luke Donald
The man who replaced Westwood as number one was Donald after beating him in a sudden death play-off at the BMW PGA Championship. In four stints he held the spot for a total of 56 weeks, the last of which was in August 2012. The 40-year-old is another player not to have won a major – his best finishes have been joint-third at the Masters in 2005 and US PGA Championship in 2006.
Justin Rose
Rose won his sole major title to date when he triumphed at the 2013 US Open. The 2016 Olympic gold-medallist lost a play-off against Sergio Garcia at last year’s Masters and came joint-second at the Open in July.
