Adam Scott reaches world No.20 and top ranked Aussie after finishing third behind Rory McIlroy

Only one player in golf history has reached world No.1 after their 40th birthday but Adam Scott is not being defined by his age after another brilliant performance.

Adam Scott finished third in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Adam Scott will end 2024 as the oldest player, the only player aged over 35 and the only Australian male in the world’s top 20 after the ageless superstar finished third at the DP World Tour’s season-ending championship behind Rory McIlroy.

The 44-year-old Australian is the world’s 20th best golfer, 11 spots higher than countryman Jason Day who could climb a couple of places with victory at this week’s Australian PGA in Brisbane.

Day is returning to play in Australia for the first time since 2017, while Scott, who has played 24 tournaments, without a win, this year is skipping both the PGA and Australian Open, choosing to spend time with his family, his first absence from the events since they were abandoned during the Covid-19 pandemic.

But even a victory at Royal Queensland won’t catapult Day over Scott who said he played to a “very high standard” in the latter half of the year after finishing runner-up at the Scottish Open, having also finished second at the BMW Championship, with seven top-10s, including at the British Open, among his results his 2024.

Adam Scott will finished 2024 in the top 20. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

That included his tie for third behind McIlroy in Dubai, shooting the equal best closing round of four-under to finish three shots adrift of the winner, in Scott’s final tournament after a year which left him adamant he can still compete with the younger crew.

Scott is six years older than Keegan Bradley, who at 38 is the second-oldest member of the world’s top 20.

“I see 2024 as having two distinct halves,” Scott told Golf Digest.

“I always seem to play OK. I don’t ever play badly. I just hadn’t played great for a while, which was starting to get annoying. And that’s how the first six months of this year was. But I did find some confidence from the Scottish Open onwards. From there, I played to a very high standard.

“It’s not so much that I am 44. it is that there are so many other guys getting younger [laughs]. There are so many good players in their mid-20s now. So more than tapering off at my age, which many do, there are more young lads to take our place. And they play at a very high level on a regular basis, which again makes it harder for someone like me.”

To put Scott’s current standing in perspective only one golfer, ever, Vijay Singh, reached the world No.1 ranking after turning 40.

As Scott was making his charge in Dubai, Minjee Lee, who was world No.2 in 2023, Lee locked in a late arrival for the Australian Open by securing her place in the LPGA’s season-ending tour championship in Florida next week.

Minjee Lee has qualified for CME Globe. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Needing to stay in side the top-60 on the points race, Lee finished in a tie for 14th behind world No.1 Nelly Korda at the Annika in Florida to finish 54th and secure her place as one of four Aussies vying for the record $6.1 million purse.

Lee, who is winless in 2024, as well as world No.6 Hannah Green, LPGA rookie Gabi Ruffels and Grace Kim won’t get to Melbourne until the day before next week’s dual-gender event begins with the season-ending CME Globe being contested in Florida this weekend.