Johnson hangs on to No. 1 rank

The No. 1 ranking that Dustin Johnson has held for the last 15 months has never been more in jeopardy.

Four players behind him — Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose — have a mathematical chance this week at The Players Championship to replace Johnson atop the world ranking. Spieth didn’t even know it.

“Am I one of them?” he asked Tuesday. “Sweet.” He didn’t know because he didn’t particularly care. He reached No. 1 for the first time with his runner-up finish in the 2015 PGA Championship, and he returned to the top on three more occasions for a total of 26 weeks.

Spieth cares more about winning The Players Championship than any ramifications.

“It was never a goal of mine to hold it a certain length of time,” Spieth said. “It’s almost like a feat, like winning a major. But now it’s more like ... if I remained No. 2 and won majors, and was No. 1 for a long time and won six, I’d take the first one.”

Spieth represents one of many oddities about this tournament. The Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass can be feast or famine for just about anyone. Tiger Woods, the only player to win the tournament in March and May, also has had eight finishes outside the top 20. He has only five top 10s in his 16 appearances. Remember that dynamic finish from Rickie Fowler when he won in 2015? He has missed the cut in four of his eight starts. /