Monday 14 May 2018 06:02, UK
Justin Thomas will become the 21st golfer to be ranked world No 1 after he produced a strong finish to The Players Championship at Sawgrass.
Thomas closed with a 66 to finish in a tie for 11th on 11 under par, which earned him enough points to end Dustin Johnson's 64-week tenure at the top of the rankings.
Johnson needed a birdie at the 72nd hole to make it 65 consecutive weeks at the top, but he came up short of the green with his approach and was forced to settle for a par and a disappointing round of 72, leaving him a shot behind Thomas.
The 25-year-old had started the final day five strokes behind Johnson, but he made a confident birdie-eagle start and picked up another shot at the sixth before pulling his tee shot way left and into water at the next, leading to a double-bogey six.
But he responded with a birdie at nine and picked up three further shots on the inward half before facing a lengthy wait for Johnson to finish his tournament.
Asked about the prospect of becoming world No 1, Thomas said: "It means a lot, but it's something I want to have for a long time, it's not something I just want to have once. Like DJ and like Tiger and other guys who have had it for a long time, that's more of a goal of mine as opposed to just having it.
"I want to have it for a really long time because that means I'm playing better than everybody else for an extended period of time. I would feel deserving for how I played, but at the same time, get hot for a year, couple years or two years or something, have it and then fall off the map, that doesn't really mean a whole lot to me.
"I would much rather continue to play well for another eight to 10 years and see how long I can have it."
