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Biggest movers of 2017 in the Official World Golf Rankings
It has been an exciting year in golf in 2017 and we've seen the rise and fall of many players over the past 12 months.
One way to look at which players took a step forward and which ones took a step back is by looking at the Official World Golf Ranking.
MORE: The Official World Golf Ranking | Relive the top moments of 2017
Here's a look at the top 25 in the world comparing the final rankings of 2016 and 2017:
| 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|
| 1. Jason Day | 1. Dustin Johnson |
| 2. Rory McIlroy | 2. Jordan Spieth |
| 3. Dustin Johnson | 3. Justin Thomas |
| 4. Henrik Stenson | 4. Jon Rahm |
| 5. Jordan Spieth | 5. Hideki Matsuyama |
| 6. Hideki Matsuyama | 6. Justin Rose |
| 7. Adam Scott | 7. Rickie Fowler |
| 8. Patrick Reed | 8. Brooks Koepka |
| 9. Alex Noren | 9. Henrik Stenson |
| 10. Bubba Watson | 10. Sergio Garcia |
| 11. Danny Willett | 11. Rory McIlroy |
| 12. Rickie Fowler | 12. Marc Leishman |
| 13. Sergio Garcia | 13. Jason Day |
| 14. Paul Casey | 14. Paul Casey |
| 15. Justin Rose | 15. Matt Kuchar |
| 16. Brooks Koepka | 16. Tyrrell Hatton |
| 17. Branden Grace | 17. Tommy Fleetwood |
| 18. Russell Knox | 18. Alex Noren |
| 19. Phil Mickelson | 19. Pat Perez |
| 20. Matt Kuchar | 20. Rafael Cabrera Bello |
| 21. Jimmy Walker | 21. Francesco Molinari |
| 22. Justin Thomas | 22. Charley Hoffman |
| 23. Charl Schwartzel | 23. Louis Oosthuizen |
| 24. Tyrrell Hatton | 24. Patrick Reed |
| 25. Emiliano Grillo | 25. Xander Schauffele |
At the top of the ranking, the strong 2017 performances of Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas led to the first U.S. trio to top the rankings since Tiger Woods, David Duval and Mark O'Meara in August 1998.
Meanwhile, the previous world No. 1s Jason Day and Rory McIlroy slid outside the Top 10 in 2017 with McIlroy finishing at No. 11 and Day at No. 13.
But who had the biggest gains in the rankings in 2017? You might think it was Jon Rahm, who rocketed up the rankings after his first career win at Torrey Pines. He finished 2016 ranked No. 137 and climbed a very impressive 133 spots to No. 4.
Or what about PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Xander Schauffele? His wins at The Greenbriar and the Tour Championship sure helped his ranking as he climbed 274 spots from No. 299 to making his debut in the top 25.
While both very impressive, the title of biggest mover in the Official World Golf Ranking belongs to former amateur World No. 1 Patrick Cantlay. He finished 2016 ranked 1,866. Following an impressive run of top 10 performances that allowed him to qualify for the Tour Championship and then his first career PGA Tour win at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in November, he moved up an astonishing 1,822 spots to No. 38 in the world.
We took a look at the current top 100 players and here are the top 10 golfers who moved up the most in the rankings in 2017 (spots moved in parenthesis).
