Golf News: Sky's the Limit - Biggest Gains on the World Golf Ranking in 2013

The 2013 season saw a shake-up in the World Golf Rankings, with new faces going up against golfing legends to become World Number One. This week we take a look at some of the season's biggest winners, whose rankings soared over the past twelve months.

2013 – Year of the Tiger
The 2013 season closed out with America's Tiger Woods back in the number one spot that he occupied for years before hitting a difficult patch in 2008. Woods moved up two places on the World Golf Rankings and although his gains may not have been huge, the American has a psychological advantage over his competitors with his number one status restored – but two strong competitors are closing in on him.

Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson – Hungry for Tiger's throne
These two players made great strides in the World Golf Rankings during the 2013 season, and are currently ranked second and third in the world, respectively. Scott, who hails from Australia, improved his ranking from fifth to second on the rankings and had 393 points against Woods' 479 on December 15th.

At number three in the world, Sweden's Henrik Stenson enjoyed a high-octane season on both the European and PGA Tours, winning the Race to Dubai and Fedex Cup in the same season.

The Swede moved from 53rd to 3rd in the rankings in a single season, gaining 484 points to come within 3 points of Woods' total points for the season. However, both Woods and Scott are ranked higher than Stenson where average points are concerned (click here for a full explanation of the World Golf Rankings points system).

Other big gainers in the 2013 rankings
The world top 10 welcomed three new golfers at the close of the 2013 season – the Americans Matt Kuchar (7th), Steve Stricker (8th), and Zach Johnson (9th) all gained 15 points or more over the past year. Kuchar was ranked 21 a year ago, while Johnson came up from 18th in the world. Johnson made the biggest gain of the three, moving to 9th place from 25th last season.

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