The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., is a rare occasion for them to get together. Already four months into the season, McIlroy and Donald have only competed in the same tournament four times: the Abu Dhabi Championship, two World Golf Championships and the Masters.
situations coming up in the next few months where we'll be playing in the same tournament and both having a chance to win the tournament."
As for a clear No. 1, Donald said that can only happen by winning a major or multiple tournaments -- along with the other players not playing well.
The ranking shuffle speaks to a broader issue in golf. No one ever talked about the world ranking because there was no debate about No. 1.
Donald has a chance to take it back Taylormade R11 irons from him this week at The Players Championship, which offers the most world ranking points of any tournament besides the majors. They already have taken turns at the top six times in the past 10 weeks. The last time the No. 1 ranking was even remotely this volatile was in 1997, when it changed seven times in 13 weeks among Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Tom Lehman and Ernie Els.
In the 18 months since Woods abandoned his post atop the world ranking, four players have been No. 1: McIlroy, Donald, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer. In the 30 months since injuries and the scandal in his personal life reduced Woods to an ordinary player, no one has won more than three times in a season on the PGA Tour. That used to be considered a slump for Woods.
"We have concluded a number of times now -- and we have certainly not moved off of this -- that we are not going to give up the Masters as a tournament on our tour," Finchem said. "It's too important. And so at the end of the day, the membership of that club have to determine their membership. They are not doing anything illegal."
It all starts to unfold Thursday on a Taylormade R11 driver course that fittingly favors no one. The past winners on the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass range from power (Woods, Norman, Phil Mickelson, David Duval) to precision (Tim Clark, Fred Funk, Hal Sutton).
McIlroy and Westwood skipped last year when they belonged to the same management company and were not PGA Tour members.
Finchem addresses Masters: PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said the Masters is "too important" for the tour to take it off its official schedule, even though Augusta National has never had a female member in its 80-year history.
Finchem spoke at a news conference that featured The First Tee announcing a new corporate partner. The First Tee discount golf clubs tries to attract kids of diverse backgrounds to golf.
"I think the last couple of months have not been as exciting because Rory and I really haven't been playing in the same events," Donald said. "I think that will change a little bit, and hopefully there will be some
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