Adam Scott has applauded fellow Australian golfer Jason Day on his 47-week tenure as world No.1, detailing how hard the top spot has been to retain since the reign of Tiger Woods.
The 29-year-old Day held the No.1 ranking since March 2016, but American Dustin Johnson stole the crown with his five-shot victory at the US PGA Tour's Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club on Sunday (Monday AEDT).
After a three-month injury hiatus, Day's performances have been uncharacteristically poor in 2017, including a tie for 12th at the 32-man Tournament of Champions in January and a missed cut at Torrey Pines.
Entering the Los Angeles event as world No.3, Johnson needed a victory and for Day to finish worse than a three-way tie for third to assume the top spot.
But 36-year-old Scott - who enjoyed the No.1 ranking for 11 weeks in 2014 - acknowledged the difficulty of Day's 12-month stint.
"As we've seen since Tiger really dominated that position, no one's staying there too long," Scott said.
"For Jason, he won't be far behind and I'm sure that'll motivate him.
"Jason has been there quite a while and it's very difficult as the target's always on your back.
"Everyone's coming for you; there just isn't that separation between the top players that there was for that long period of time when Tiger was far, far ahead."
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