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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Tiger Troubles in Turkey

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Tiger Woods failed to cash in as the opening round of the inaugural Turkish Airlines Open in Antalya turned into a birdie-fest.

Overnight thunderstorms and torrential morning rain meant the start was delayed by three hours and the soft greens and lack of wind at the par 72 Montgomerie Maxx Royal meant scoring conditions were ideal.

But while three players - Englishmen Paul Casey and Steve Webster along with South African Darren Fichardt all ended the day tied for the lead on seven-under - Woods could only shoot one-under in the 10 holes he managed before darkness fell.

That left the world number one down in a tie for 50th in the elite 78-man field contesting the penultimate event of the four-tournament Finals Series.

Race To Dubai leader Henrik Stenson fared better as he carded five birdies and a bogey in an outward 31 to sit on four-under after 10 but Justin Rose, despite two opening birdies, also failed to make hay and ended alongside Tiger at -1.

Woods made the ideal start by flipping a wedge to four feet at the par five opening hole and rolling in the putt for a birdie four.

After pars at two and three, he escaped with another after narrowly avoiding the water at the fourth - Rose did get wet and made bogey - before adding another three to stay at one-under after seven.

The 14-time major winner got the ball rolling again with a birdie two at the eighth but failed to get up and down at the ninth after coming up short with his approach and fell back to one-under. Woods added a par at 10 but failed to complete the 11th after the darkness quickly closed in.

Rose followed his bogey at four with another at five but birdied six before reeling off four straight pars. Stenson's only dropped shot came at two as he birdied one, three, four, seven and nine to make his move up the field.

Lee Westwood also finished the day at four-under after 11, one in front of playing partner Ian Poulter.

As for the leaders, Casey (who birdied his first four holes), and Fichardt still have four holes still to complete while fellow pacesetter Webster has six.

"I really thought you've got to get off to a quick one and I did exactly that," said Casey.

"It was foot flat to the floor today and just fire at the pins, take advantage of the soft conditions and see what happens."

In a bunched field, eight players share fourth spot - Ricardo Gonzalez, Thorbjorn Olesen, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Ricardo Santos, George Coetzee, Peter Uihlein, Thomas Bjorn and Justin Walters.

Gonzalez and Olesen were two of just 15 players to complete 18 holes as they set the clubhouse target of six-under 66.

The first round will resume on Friday at 8am local time while round two tee-times will be the same as in the original first round draw.

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Stenson Extends Lead

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Sweden's Henrik Stenson leads the Tour Championship after carding a first-round six-under 64 in Atlanta.

The world number six had a run of four birdies on the East Lake course and after a bogey on the 16th, he birdied the last to lead Adam Scott by one.

Justin Rose is two under while fellow Englishman Luke Donald is level par.

The 30-man field is competing for the $10m (£6.24m) bonus prize for winning the FedEx Cup - Tiger Woods leads the points going into this final event.

However, the world number one, who is guaranteed to win the pot if he is victorious, opened with a three-over par 73.

It was the American's first round without a birdie since the 2010 US Open and he is 29th.

Four other golfers are guaranteed to take the $10m prize if they win the event - which itself carries a first prize of $1.4m (£875,000) - Stenson, Scott, Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar.

Johnson and Kuchar both shot rounds of 69 to lie one under but it was 37-year-old Stenson who made the best start, holing from seven feet at the second, eight inches on the fourth and four feet on the fifth to race to three under.

An accurate tee shot on the par-three sixth left him with another tap-in birdie before an eight-foot putt on the seventh and a birdie on the par-five 15th took him to six under.

Stenson's performance came just three days after he knocked the head off his driver by smashing into the ground in frustration towards the end of his rain-delayed final round in the BMW Championship on Monday and then damaged his locker.

Stenson paid for the damage and "apologised to the appropriate parties".

Australia's Masters champion Scott sank six birdies in seven holes from the 10th to shoot up the leaderboard and finish on five under, one shot ahead of American duo Billy Horschel and Steve Stricker.

An eight-strong group containing Rose, Spain's Sergio Garcia and American Dustin Johnson are in touch at two under.

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Tiger On Firestone at WGC Bridgestone

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Tiger Woods remains on course for his eighth Bridgestone Invitational title after preserving a seven-shot lead with one round to play.

The American followed up Friday's career-equalling best 61 with a 68 to leave him on 15 under par in Ohio.

Sweden's Henrik Stenson moved into second on eight under with American Jason Dufner a shot back in third.

England's Chris Wood and Luke Donald are in a three-way tie for fourth on six under.

But there appears to be no stopping Woods, who, chasing his fifth title of the season, started his third round with consecutive birdies.

After six straight pars the 37-year-old closed the front nine with a bogey but responded with a birdie at the 10th.

Woods birdied the 13th but took a bogey at the next hole and continued the up-and-down run with a bogey at the par-five 16th followed by a birdie at the par-four 17th.

The best round of the day came from Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez, who carded a 65 to move into tied seventh on five under.

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy showed improved form as he shot a one-under 69 but remained well off the pace.

His first sub-par round of the week left him on level par and in a share of 17th, alongside England's Ian Poulter and Justin Rose.

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Rose Returns as Number 2 Due

England's Justin Rose has pulled out of this week's Dubai World Championship to await the birth of his second child.

The world number 16 will be in Orlando, Florida with wife Kate. They already have a son, Leo.

Rose missed the cut at the Hong Kong Open last week by one stroke, as Rory McIlroy went on to take the title.

Rose tweeted: "Flying home to Orlando for an amazing off season. Our 2nd baby is on it's way very soon. Sorry I couldn't play in Dubai."

The 31-year-old is currently lying in 48th place in the European Race to Dubai money list, having earned 571,283 euros (approximately £490,000 / $765,000) in his 13 tournaments.

His last tournament win came on the PGA Tour in the United States, taking victory at the BMW Championship at the Cog Hill Country Club in Illinois in September, which was part of the FedEx Cup play-offs.

Only the top 60 on the European money list qualify for Dubai, but now only 58 are playing because, in addition to Rose, Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson is not in the field.

The main focus of the week in Dubai is the battle between the world's top two players, Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy, for the European number one crown.

On-form McIlroy, on a high from winning in Hong Kong, has to triumph again on Sunday, but even then Donald would still top the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic in the same season - a feat never before achieved - if he finishes ninth or better.