HOYLAKE, England -- Adam Scott went to No. 1 in the world in May, and then won his next tournament at Colonial. He has been atop the world ranking for two months now, though that position is up for grabs at a major.
Early projections suggest that Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Bubba Watson and Jason Day have a mathematical chance to reach No. 1 by winning this week's Open Championship. Day at No. 6 would have a chance over Matt Kuchar at No. 5 because the Australian has been injured, and so his tournament divisor is lower.
Rose is No. 3, the same spot he was in last year. But that was when Tiger Woods was more entrenched at No. 1. For Rose to reach the top, he would have to win and Scott would have to finish somewhere out of the top 40.
But at least it's a chance -- and one he's not spending a lot of time worrying about.
"I've always said for me, I've always focused more on winning major championships ... than chasing No. 1," Rose said. "I think that's just a really nice byproduct of your process and improving as a golfer. So if it happens, it happens. Right now, I'm focused on this week. And the fact that gives me the opportunity, then brilliant. But it's really not front and center right now."