Top 10 Golfers - Number 1 Tiger Woods

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer who is among the most successful golfers of all time. He has been one of the highest-paid athletes in the world for several years.

Following an outstanding amateur and two-year college golf career, Woods turned professional at age 20 in late summer 1996. By April 1997 he had already won his first major, the 1997 Masters in a record-breaking performance, winning the tournament by 12 strokes and pocketing $486,000. He first reached the number one position in the world rankings in June 1997. Through the 2000s, Woods was the dominant force in golf, spending 264 weeks from August 1999 to September 2004 and 281 weeks from June 2005 to October 2010 as World Number One.

From December 2009 to early April 2010, Woods took leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage after he admitted infidelity, but he and his wife Elin Nordegren eventually divorced. His many extramarital indiscretions were revealed by several different women, through many worldwide media sources. This was followed by a loss of golf form, and his ranking gradually fell to a low of No. 58 in November 2011. He ended a career-high winless streak of 107 weeks when he captured the Chevron World Challenge in December 2011. After winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 25, 2013, he ascended to the No.1 ranking once again, holding the top spot until May 2014. Woods had back disc surgery in April 2014, and has struggled since to regain his dominant form. By March 29, 2015, Woods had fallen to #104, outside of the top 100 for the first time since the week prior to his first Tour title win in 1996.

Woods has broken numerous golf records. He has been World Number One for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any golfer. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record eleven times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times, and has the record of leading the money list in ten different seasons. He has won 14 professional major golf championships, the second highest of any player (Jack Nicklaus leads with 18), and 79 PGA Tour events, second all time behind Sam Snead, who had 82 wins. He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour. Additionally, Woods is only the second golfer, after Jack Nicklaus, to have achieved a career Grand Slam three times. Woods has won 18 World Golf Championships, and won at least one of those events in each of the first 11 years after they began in 1999. Woods and Rory McIlroy are the only golfers to win both The Silver Medal and The Gold Medal at The Open Championship.

Tiger turned professional in 1996 and since has won 79 PGA TOURS, 40 EUROPEAN TOURS, 2 JAPAN GOLF TOUR, 1 PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA AND 16 OTHER TOURS.

On August 20, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced that Woods would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame. He was inducted December 5, 2007 at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento.

He has been named "Athlete of the Decade" by the Associated Press in December 2009. He has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year a record-tying four times, and is the only person to be named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year more than once.

Since his record-breaking win at the 1997 Masters Tournament, golf's increased popularity is commonly attributed to Woods' presence. He is credited by some sources for dramatically increasing prize money in golf, generating interest in new PGA tournament audiences, and for drawing the largest TV ratings in golf history.

Top 10 Golfers - Number 2 Rory Mcilroy

Rory McIlroy, MBE (born 4 May 1989) is a Northern Irish professional golfer who is a member of both the European and PGA Tours. He was world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking for 95 weeks. He is a four-time major champion, winning the 2011 U.S Open with a tournament record lowest score under par (−16), 2012 PGA Championship with a tournament record eight strokes victory margin, 2014 Open Championship, and 2014 PGA Championship. He is the first European to win three different majors, and with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods is one of three to win three majors by the age of 25.

He had a successful amateur career, topping the World Amateur Golf Ranking for one week as a 17-year-old in 2007. Later that year he turned professional and soon established himself on the European Tour. He had his first win on the European Tour in 2009, and on the PGA Tour in 2010. In 2011 at the age of 22, he became the youngest player ever to reach €10 million in career earnings on the European Tour. In 2012, he became the youngest player to reach $10 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour.

McIlroy has represented Europe, Great Britain & Ireland, and Ireland as both an amateur and a professional. At the Ryder Cup, he played for Europe against the United States in 2010, 2012 and 2014, with Europe winning all three matches. For his individual and team achievements he has twice been named RTÉ Sports Person of the Year, in 2011 and 2014.

Mcilroy turned professional in 2007 and since has won 11 PGA TOURS, 12 EUROPEAN TOURS, 1 ASIAN TOUR, 1 PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA AND 1 OTHER TOUR.

McIlroy employs the interlocking grip on full shots. He has worked with various professional golfers since he was young, including Darren Clarke, Nick Faldo, and Graeme McDowell. McDowell frequently plays practice rounds at Tour events with McIlroy.

McIlroy obtained putting assistance and instruction from Dave Stockton, a retired PGA Tour player who works as a putting instructor. He was first managed by Englishman Andrew "Chubby" Chandler, a former European Tour player who founded International Sports Management (ISM).

McIlroy left ISM in 2011, with McIlroy joining Dublin-based Horizon Sports Management. Michael Bannon has been working with McIlroy since October 2012.

Top 10 Golfers - Number 3 Jordon Spieth

Jordan Alexander Spieth is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour, and former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a two-time major winner and the defending FedEx Cup champion.

Spieth won his first major at the 2015 Masters Tournament with a score of 270 (−18), earning him $1.8 million. Spieth tied the 72-hole record set by Tiger Woods in 1997 and became the second youngest to win the Masters, behind Woods. He then won the 2015 U.S. Open with a final score of 5-under-par. He is the youngest U.S. Open champion since Bobby Jones in 1923. He followed up with a win in the 2015 Tour Championship, which clinched the 2015 FedEx Cup.

Speech turned professional in 2012 and since then has won 7 PGA TOURS, 1 PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA TOUR AND 1 OTHER TOUR.

Spieth won the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2009 and 2011, joining Tiger Woods as its only multiple winners. Before turning 18 in July 2011, he was No. 1 in the Polo Golf Rankings, which promotes the best junior golfers in the world. He finished second in the 2008 and 2009 Junior PGA Championship. The American Junior Golf Association named him the Rolex Junior Player of the Year in 2009.

Spieth accepted an exemption to play in the PGA Tour's HP Byron Nelson Championship in 2010. It was the event's first amateur exemption since 1995. The tournament's previous exemptions had included Trip Kuehne in 1995, Justin Leonard, and Woods in 1993. He made the cut, becoming the sixth-youngest player to make the cut at a PGA Tour event. Spieth was tied for seventh place after the third round, and finished the tournament in a tie for 16th place. He was offered another exemption into the tournament in 2011, when he again made the cut and finished in a tie for 32nd.

Spieth played college golf for the Longhorns at the University of Texas. Spieth was a member of the 2011 Walker Cup team, and played in three of the four rounds, halving his foursomes match and winning both singles matches.

In his freshman year at Texas, Spieth won three events and led the team in scoring average. He helped his team win the NCAA championship, was named to the All-Big 12 Team, Big 12 Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year, and was a first-team All-American.

Spieth earned a spot in the U.S. Open in 2012 as an alternate after Brandt Snedeker withdrew; he tied for 21st and was the low amateur. He became the number one amateur in the World Amateur Golf Ranking after his performance in the U.S. Open and Patrick Cantlay's decision to turn professional.

Top 10 Golfers - Number 4 Bubba Watson

Gerry Lester "Bubba" Watson, Jr. is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. One of the few left-handed golfers on tour, he is a multiple major champion, having won the Masters Tournament in 2012 and 2014. In February 2015, Watson reached a career-high 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking. Watson is among the longest drivers on the PGA Tour; in 2007 he had an average drive of 315.2 yards (288.2 m) and can hit a ball over 350 yards (320 m), capable of generating a ball speed up to 194 mph (312 km/h).

Bubba turned professional in 2003 and has had 12 professional wins since then. Which include 9 PGA TOURS AND 3 OTHER TOURS.

Watson was born and raised in Bagdad, Florida, near Pensacola. He played on the golf team at Milton High School, which had featured future PGA Tour members Heath Slocum and Boo Weekley just before he attended. Watson played golf for Faulkner State Community College in nearby Baldwin County, Alabama, where he was a junior college All-American. He transferred to the University of Georgia, the defending NCAA champions, and played for the Bulldogs in 2000 and 2001. As a junior, Watson helped lead the Bulldogs to the SEC title in 2000.

Watson turned professional in 2003 and joined the Nationwide Tour where he played until 2005. He finished 21st on the Nationwide Tour's money list in 2005, making him the last player to qualify for the following year's PGA Tour. As a rookie in 2006, he earned $1,019,264 (90th overall) and led the PGA Tour in driving distance at 319.6 yards (292.2 m). His longest drive in professional competition was 442 yards (404 m) on the PGA Tour at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Watson played well at the 2007 U.S. Open. He was in the final group on Saturday after shooting rounds of 70-71 (+1) at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh. Watson was one stroke off the lead after 36 holes but then slipped, shooting 74 (+4) in both the third and fourth rounds; he finished in a tie for fifth.

Top 10 Golfers - Number 5 Jason Day

Jason Day (born 12 November 1987) is an Australian professional golfer and PGA Tour member. Day first broke into the world's top ten in June 2011, rising to world number nine after his runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. In February 2014, Day won his first WGC title, the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. He went on to win his first major tournament at the 2015 PGA Championship, scoring a record 20 strokes under par and rising to number three in the world rankings. In September 2015, Day reached World Number 1 in the World Golf Ranking.

Jason Day turned professional in 2006 and has since had 13 professional wins. These include 8 PGA TOURS, 2 EUROPEAN TOURS, 1 WEB.COM TOURS AND 4 OTHER TOURS.

In February 2015, Day won his third PGA Tour event and his seventh title as a pro, winning the Farmers Insurance Open with a score of 279 (−9) after prevailing in a four-way playoff over Harris English, J.B. Holmes and Scott Stallings. He won at the second hole with a par while Holmes made bogey, after English and Stallings were eliminated at the first hole. The victory lifted Day back to fourth in the Official World Golf Ranking.

During the second round of the 2015 U.S. Open, Day collapsed on his 18th hole, the 9th hole on the course, having started the day on the 10th. He was very slow to get back up and was shaking and wobbly. It was later revealed that this was due to vertigo, a diagnosis Day had received from his doctor a month prior. However, the very next day, when he wasn't even sure if he would play, Day ended the third round tied for the lead. He finished the tournament tied for 9th. At the 2015 Open Championship at St Andrews, Day entered the final round as one of the 54-hole co-leaders and shot a bogey-free 70 to finish at 14-under-par and one stroke outside of the 3-way playoff. He had a putt for birdie on the 72nd hole to join the playoff but left it inches short. Day's tie for fourth, however, was his best finish at the Open Championship and was the sixth time he had finished in the top 5 of a major without winning one.

The following week at the RBC Canadian Open in Oakville, Canada, Day outlasted Bubba Watson and hometown favorite David Hearn to win the tournament, his second tour victory of the season and fourth overall. He made birdies on the last three holes in the final round to take a one-stroke victory. At the next major championship, and the final one of the season, the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, Day went on to play a five-under-par final round and prevented Jordan Spieth from winning a third major championship that season, although Spieth did dethrone Rory McIlroy to become the No. 1 ranked PGA player. Jason Day also set a new record that day as the first player to finish at 20-under-par in a major.

Day's hot streak continued with wins in The Barclays and the BMW Championship, two of the first three events in the FedEx Cup playoffs. As a result of the BMW Championship win, on 20 September 2015, Day gained the world number 1 ranking for the first time. Day entered the Tour Championship as the FedEx Cup leader, but he finished tied for tenth. Jordan Spieth would win the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup as well as retaking the number one world ranking.

Top 10 Golfers - Number 6 Adam Scott

Adam Derek Scott (born 16 July 1980) is an Australian professional golfer who plays mainly on the PGA Tour. He was the World No. 1 ranked golfer, from mid-May to August 2014. He has won 29 professional tournaments around the world (3 being unofficial money events), on many of golf's major tours. His biggest win to date was the 2013 Masters Tournament, his first major championship and the first Masters won by an Australian in its history. Other significant wins include the 2004 Players Championship, the 2011 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the 2016 WGC-Cadillac Championship. He was the runner-up in the 2012 Open Championship, leading by four strokes with four holes to play before bogeying all of them to lose the title by a stroke to Ernie Els.

Adam Scott turned professional in 2000 and since then has had 29 professional wins. These include 13 PGA TOURS, 10 EUROPEAN TOURS, 4 ASIAN TOURS, 1 SUNSHINE TOUR, 5 PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA AND 3 OTHER TOURS.

Scott turned professional midway through the 2000 season after some impressive performances early in the year on the European Tour. He earned his card for the 2001 European Tour season in just eight starts as a professional, his best result being a tie for sixth at the Linde German Masters. Scott also made a handful of appearances on the PGA Tour but made only one cut in six events.

Scott's playing career took off in 2001, his first full year as a professional golfer, when he won the European Tour's Alfred Dunhill Championship in Johannesburg, South Africa for his very first professional title. This event was Scott's first start of the year and was co-sanctioned by the European and Sunshine Tours. He beat Justin Rose to the title by one stroke.Scott had three other top-3 finishes throughout the season and went on to finish 13th in the Order of Merit in his first season.

The following year in 2002, Scott enjoyed a very successful season, with two emphatic victories on the European Tour and a final position of seventh on the Order of Merit. His first win of the year was a six-shot victory at the Qatar Masters. Later in the year, Scott obliterated the field in the Scottish PGA Championship, shooting a final round of 63 to win by ten shots. This is still the biggest ever margin of victory he has achieved in his career. In between these victories, Scott made his debut at the Masters Tournament, where he finished a very respectable tied 9th.

Top 10 Golfers - Number 7 Phil Mickelson

Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won 42 events on the PGA Tour, including five major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), a PGA Championship(2005) and an Open Championship (2013).

Mickelson is one of 16 golfers in the history of the sport to win at least three of the four professional majors. The only major that has eluded him is the U.S. Open. Mickelson has finished runner-up in the U.S. Open a record six times.

Mickelson has spent over 700 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking, has reached a career-high world ranking of 2nd several times and has a lifetime exemption on the PGA Tour. Mickelson is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in May 2012.

He turned professional in 1992 and has had 51 professional wins since then. These include 42 PGA TOURS, 9 EUROPEAN TOURS, 1 CHALLENGE TOUR, 5 OTHER TOURS.

As a professional competitor, Mickelson's playing style is described by many as "aggressive" and highly social. His strategy toward difficult shots (bad lies, obstructions) would tend to be considered risky.

Mickelson has also been characterized by his powerful and sometimes inaccurate driver, but his excellent short game draws the most positive reviews, most of all his daring "Phil flop" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance.

Mickelson is usually in the top 10 in scoring, and he led the PGA Tour in birdie average as recently as 2013. His playing style wins 8% of his Tour starts, along with top 25s in well over half and top 10s in a third.