RIDGELAND, S.C. – Rory McIlroy has his sights set on returning to world No. 1 for the first time in more than two years as he defends his title at the CJ Cup in South Carolina.
McIlroy needs either to win this week and have reigning world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finish worse than a two-way tie for second, or he can finish second as long as Scheffler finishes worse than 34th (out of a field of 78), to return to the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking for the ninth different time in his career. To date, McIlroy’s spent a total of 106 weeks as king of the hill, relinquishing the throne on July 19, 2020, when Jon Rahm unseated him. (Scheffler has been No. 1 for 30 weeks since March 27.)
