Good Day for No 1 Jason

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Jason Day will return to world No1 on Monday from the comfort of his couch in Ohio as he awaits the birth of his second child.

Day, who first went to No1 after winning the BMW Championship last month, but lost the mantle a week later after Jordan Spieth won the Tour Championship, will benefit from his phenomenal finish to the year.

While neither Day nor Spieth have played in a world ranking points-earning event since the Tour Championship, the Queenslander’s late year charge, where he won the Canadian Open, his first major at the PGA Championship and two US PGA tour playoff events in six starts sees his average usurp the Texan.

“It was a tough week for me but I ground it out around the house,” Day joked. “But in all seriousness while it is a little strange to get it this way it is just proof that the hard work we put in as a team this year paid off and at the end of the day every week at the top counts and is exciting.

“I know things will likely change again as I continue my off-season so I know I need to get back at it and work even harder than last year to make it easier to be at No1 into the future.”

Day is the third Australian, and the youngest, to be world No1 along with Greg Norman (331 total weeks) and Adam Scott (11 weeks).

With Day out of action until Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge in early December, Spieth will have chances to get the spot back, as will No3 Rory McIlroy, over the next six weeks.

McIlroy is currently playing the season opener in California but cannot earn enough points to move higher than his current ranking, even with a victory.

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Spieth Eases Ahead of Stenson

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Jordan Spieth birdied the final hole to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship.

The 22-year-old, one of five players who will automatically claim the FedExCup title this week, carded a birdie-two at the par-three last to close a two-under 68 and move one-shot clear of overnight leader Henrik Stenson in Atlanta.

After bouncing back from a dropped shot at the first with an eight-foot gain at the third, Stenson temporarily saw his lead cut to one when he followed a blemish at the tenth with a three-putt bogey at the 11th.

Paul Casey had closed the gap with back-to-back birdies at the sixth and seventh but failed to pick up another stroke all afternoon, while Rory McIlroy's four gains in a seven hole stretch around the turn briefly moved him within one of the Swede.

Stenson restored his two-shot cushion by rolling in a 22-footer at the 14th, only to see Spieth half the gap by sliding in an eight-foot gain at the next.

A double-bogey at the last from McIlroy saw him back four adrift, as a missed long-range par-save from Stenson at the penultimate hole saw Spieth move in to a tie for the lead heading to the last.

As the Swede two-putted from 30 feet for par to close a two-over 72, Spieth rolled in 20-foot gain to take the outright lead at eight under.

Four birdies on the back nine helped Rickie Fowler to a round-of-the-day 67 in tricky conditions to claim a tie for third alongside Casey, with Zach Johnson joining McIlroy a further stroke back.

World No 1 Jason Day posted consecutive gains on the back nine, but will still head in to the final round in the group eight shots off the pace after a level-par 70 at East Lake.

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World No Ready for BMW Championship

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Rory McIlroy admits he's enjoying not being the centre of attention in the battle with Jordan Spieth and Jason Day to be golf's world No 1.

McIlroy currently lies 17th in the FedExCup standings heading in to this week's BMW Championship, but is back as world No 1 ahead of Jordan Spieth despite neither being in action last week.

The pair are split by less than 0.03 points in the OWGR standings, as the duo tussle with Jason Day for golf's top spot.

The 26-year-old has only made two starts since rupturing ankle ligaments in July and while the recent focus at the top of the rankings has been around Spieth and Day, McIlroy admits he's enjoyed not being the sport's only talking point. 

"I feel like I've been flying under the radar a little bit for the last three months just because I've only played a couple of times," McIlroy told a pre-tournament press conference. "I feel like I'm sort of not being talked about as much, and that's not a bad thing.

"In that time period, Jason has done very, very well, Jordan has kept up his pretty good play, apart from the last couple of weeks, but that's golf, that happens. Rickie had a great week last week.

"It's nice to just go about your business. If you look at it over the last two years, I feel like I've played pretty much the best. I think I have seven wins in that time period.

"I don't know if anyone has more. If you look at it over a two-year period, but if you look at it over even the last 12 months or the last six months, then obviously no."

McIlroy features alongside Hideki Matsuyama and Brandt Snedeker for the opening two rounds in Illinois, with the world No 1 now looking to take some momentum in to next week's season-ending TOUR Championship.

"I feel like I'm ready," McIlroy added. "I'm really looking forward to playing two weeks in a row, so hopefully I can have a good week this week and then go to Atlanta.

The last three times I've played it's felt physically not rusty, but mentally just trying to get back into the rhythm of playing tournament golf and having positive thoughts all the time."

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No 1 Spieth Replaces McIlroy

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Jordan Spieth has replaced Rory McIlroy as world number one after finishing second to Jason Day in the US PGA Championship.

McIlroy finished 17th at Whistling Straits on his return to action following the ankle injury which kept him out of the Open and Bridgestone Invitational, two tournaments he won last year.

And that meant Spieth became the second youngest player after Tiger Woods to top the rankings, despite being unable to claim a record-equalling third major title in one season.

Day's first major title lifts him from fifth to third and means the world's top three are aged 22, 26 and 27 respectively.

McIlroy admitted Jordan Spieth deserved to replace him as world number one following after the Irishman carded a closing round of 69 to finish nine under par and alone in 17th.

"Honestly the way Jordan has been playing and the way I haven't played much this year - I think that was only my 12th or 13th event - it's very deservedly so," said McIlroy, who had not played since the US Open in June after rupturing an ankle ligament playing football with friends on 4 July.

"Winning two majors, winning a couple of other times this year, had a chance at the Open, had a chance today. I'd be the first one to congratulate him because I know the golf you have to play to get to that spot, and it has been impressive this year."

Asked if regaining top spot would give him extra motivation, McIlroy added: "Not really. I've always said that winning golf tournaments takes care of all of that stuff. Right now I'm focused on just getting my game the way I think it has to be to win tournaments like this."

Spieth, 22, who becomes the second youngest world number one after Tiger Woods, said: "It feels really good. It's an unbelievable feeling.

"I knew walking up the 16th Jason was going to win so I was focusing on finishing second and accomplishing a career goal. So much work has gone into this and what a year it has been."

McIlroy was left to rue rounds of 71 on Thursday and Friday which left him too much to do, but added: "Looking at it as a whole, I feel like I've done well to come back and shoot the scores that I have. I feel like I progressed each and every day.

"If I was to take back anything of this week, it would just be probably that second day when we teed off in benign conditions in the morning and I didn't take advantage of that.

"I'm walking away pretty happy with how the week went. Obviously it isn't a win and I didn't get myself into contention, but considering six weeks ago I wasn't able to walk, it's not a bad effort."

McIlroy said his ankle had responded well to the difficult terrain at Whistling Straits, adding: "It's been great, honestly. I've had no discomfort with it at all.

"I'm still rehabbing it whenever I get back, I'm still doing exercise on it every night and every morning, getting treatment on it. But it's good.

"I'm hitting it the same distance as I have been, and able to get around 18 holes very easily. The residual swelling that just sort of comes from activity, that probably won't go away for another two or three months, but it's nothing to worry about."

McIlroy will skip the first FedEx Cup play-off event and return to action in the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston from 4-7 September.

McIlroy later wrote on Twitter: "2 inevitable things happened today, @JDayGolf winning a major and @JordanSpieth getting to 1 in the world! Congrats guys!! Inspiring stuff!"

Latest leading positions and points average: 

1 Jordan Spieth (USA) 12.47

2 Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 12.24

3 Jason Day (Aus) 9.40

4 Bubba Watson (USA) 8.24

5 Justin Rose (Eng) 7.16

6 Jim Furyk (USA) 6.89, 7 Dustin Johnson (USA) 6.79, 8 Rickie Fowler (USA) 6.75, 9 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 6.02, 10 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 5.47, 11 Zach Johnson (USA) 4.88, 12 Adam Scott (Aus) 4.88, 13 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 4.79, 14 Jimmy Walker (USA) 4.62, 15 Matt Kuchar (USA) 4.43, 16 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 4.26, 17 Brooks Koepka (USA) 4.22, 18 Patrick Reed (USA) 4.08, 19 JB Holmes (USA) 4.05, 20 Branden Grace (Rsa) 3.94.

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Master Spieth Fires 62

Masters champion Jordan Spieth shot a nine-under-par 62 in the second round of the RBC Heritage - only to be outdone by fellow American Troy Merritt's course record-equalling 61.

Spieth, 21, struggled to a three-over-par first round but a bogey-free day two moved him to six under at halfway.

He is six shots behind Merritt, who leads by four from two more Americans, Matt Kuchar and John Merrick.

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell carded 70 to be in a tie for fourth.

McDowell - who last won on the PGA Tour in this tournament in 2013 - co-led overnight in South Carolina but is now joined by Americans Jim Furyk and Kevin Kisner on seven under.

The former US Open champion said he thought "wow" when he saw Spieth's mark of 62, adding: "When you're on, you're on." 

Spieth, whose first-day struggles had left him at risk of missing a first cut in eight events, had nine birdies, chipping in on his penultimate hole and birdying the last after firing an iron to within four feet of the flag.

"That was just better golf," said Spieth, who has two wins and two runner-up finishes from his last four starts. "I told you guys yesterday, no excuses. I just played poorly."

"I went back to posture, ball position, hand position and tempo. And I struck that ball quite a bit better."

Merritt, 29, has never won on the PGA Tour but managed 10 birdies - seven of them on the back nine - to match David Frost's course record at Harbour Town set in 1994.

England's Ian Poulter and Luke Donald both finished inside the cut line on three under, level with Russell Knox, with his fellow Scot Martin Laird also making the weekend on level par.

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