ND, if McGough felt that 98 was better than 99, where was 98 in his list of greatest mr. O physiques ever?
answer: it wasn't on the list because Ronnie 98 was not as good as Ronnie 99. period.
end of story.
his 2001 AC performance has nothing to do with this fact.
even then, its very debatable whether or not his 2001 AC physique was better than his 99 one (98 isn't even in the picture - its between 2001 AC vs. 99 olympia for his best ever shapes - according to Peter McGough your hero anyway) because his gut was much more pronounced at the AC: