Las Vegas – Collin Morikawa reached a new career high by passing Ryder Cup partner Dustin Johnson for No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking on Monday.
Morikawa overcame an opening-round 71 at the Zozo Championship to post three rounds in the 60s to tie for seventh place. That came on the heels of a solo second-place finish at The CJ Cup @ Summit.
Morikawa, 24, now has 8.4710 average points, topping Johnson's 8.3777. The two paired to win three matches during Team USA's dominating Ryder Cup victory last month.
Johnson has only played once since, tying for 45th at The CJ Cup, and has said he plans to take the rest of 2021 off. That would mean Johnson will snap his 13-year streak of winning at least one PGA Tour event and fail to qualify for the season-opening Tournament of Champions.
Hideki Matsuyama of Japan vaulted seven spots to No. 12 in the world following his five-shot victory at the Zozo Championship in his home country.
Tony Finau and Brooks Koepka were idle last week, but Finau still moved past Koepka for the No. 10 spot in the rolling rankings system.
Also making big moves this week were Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale, who tied for second behind Matsuyama. Steele climbed 42 places to No. 88, while Tringale rose 15 spots to a career-best 54th.
It was the best finish of 2021 for both players.
Field Level Media via Reuters