Rory McIlroy passes Brooks Koepka as No. 1 golfer; Tiger Woods drops

Feb. 10 (UPI) -- For the first time in more than four years, Rory McIlroy is the No. 1 golfer in the world.

McIlroy passed former world No. 1 Brooks Koepka for the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking Sunday. He last held the top spot in September 2015. Both players missed last week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am.

McIlroy tied for third at the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open. He won the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in November. Koepka made his 2020 debut in January at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, where he tied for 34th. He tied for 17th last week at the Saudi International.

Koepka now sits in the No. 2 spot, followed by Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson. American Patrick Cantlay moved from No. 8 to No. 6. Webb Simpson stayed at No. 7. Tiger Woods moved down from No. 6 to No. 8. Xander Schauffele and Justin Rose round out the top 10.

McIlroy and Koepka are both expected to play in the Genesis Invitational. That tournament is from Thursday through Sunday at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

McIlroy has held the world No. 1 ranking for 96 weeks during his golf career. If he holds the ranking beyond this week, he'll tie Nick Faldo for the most weeks at world No. 1 for a European player.