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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."
