Adam Scott replaced Tiger Woods atop the world golf rankings Monday without either player participating in an event this past week.
Woods, who has been out of action since March because of a back injury that required surgery, had been the No. 1 golfer in the world since winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March 2013.
Woods announced in a press conference Monday he is still uncertain when he will return to competitive action.
Scott, meanwhile, had steadily been closing the gap between himself and Woods before finally overtaking him this week. Scott became the 17th player to hold the top spot in the world and is the first Australian to claim the No. 1 ranking since Greg Norman was replaced by Woods in 1997.
Henrik Stenson remained third, while Matt Kuchar and Masters winner Bubba Watson swapped places as Kuchar inched up to fourth and Watson fell to fifth.
Jason Day and Sergio Garcia held firm in sixth and seventh ahead of Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth, who exchanged positions with Rose moving to eighth and Spieth falling to ninth. Rory McIlroy again rounded out the top 10.
Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson and Dustin Johnson stayed put from 11th through 14th. Graeme McDowell jumped up a spot to 15th, causing Steve Stricker to fall a place to No. 16.
Jimmy Walker, Charl Schwartzel and Luke Donald held firm from 17th to 19th, while Ian Poulter moved up a pair of slots to 20th. Poulter's movement caused reigning PGA Champion Jason Dufner to fall out of the top 20.
Brendon Todd collected his first career PGA Tour win at the Byron Nelson Championship on Sunday, which vaulted him 75 places in the rankings from 138th to 63rd.
[SportsNetwork.com]
