Tiger Woods spent 683 weeks as the world’s No. 1 golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking. That is the all-time record for total weeks at the top of the men’s rankings.
Woods first reached No. 1 in June 1997, less than a year after turning professional. His longest uninterrupted reign lasted 281 weeks, from June 2005 through October 2010. Earlier, he held the top position for 264 consecutive weeks from August 1999 to September 2004.
His time at No. 1 stretched across the most dominant periods of his career. Woods finished an entire calendar year as the top-ranked player eight times, including every week of 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.
The figures 683 and 281 are often confused. The first is Woods’ total number of weeks at No. 1 across multiple reigns; the second is his record for consecutive weeks in a single reign. Both records underline how long he controlled professional golf.