Jordan Spieth ousts McIlroy as world No.1

• Jordan Spieth ousts Rory McIlroy as world No.1
• The American finished runner-up to Jason Day at the US PGA
• McIlroy tweets congratulations to both Spieth and Day

A runner-up finish for Jordan Spieth at the US PGA Championship was enough to see him oust returning Rory McIlroy as world No.1 to cap off an incredible year in majors.

The 22-year-old pushed Day all the way in the final round at Whistling Straits, although never got any closer than two shots to the Aussie, carding a four-under-par 68 to finish alone in second place and replace McIlroy at the summit.

“It was a lifelong goal of mine and that was accomplished today” – Jordan Spieth

“It’s by far the best consolation, by far the best loss I think I’ve ever had,” said Jordan Spieth. “To be No.1 in the world as a team is fantastic. Certainly, it was a lifelong goal of mine and that was accomplished today.”

McIlroy had been world No.1 for just over a year, taking the place of Adam Scott after winning the 2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, a week after winning his fourth major title at the Open.

And the Northern Irishman, who finished 17th in his return to action at the US PGA Championship, six weeks after rupturing a ligament in his left ankle playing football with friends, was quick to offer his congratulations to the new world No.1 as well as champion Jason Day.

He tweeted:

Spieth has become the second youngest world No.1 in Official World Golf Ranking history, with only Tiger Woods in 1997 being younger, while he is also the first American besides the 14-time major winner to reach world No.1 since David Duval in 1999.

Aged 19 and ranked world No.813 in February 2013, good performances at the Puerto Rico Open and Tampa Bay Championship saw Spieth rise to No.215, while a top ten at the RBC Heritage pushed him inside the top 200 for the first time.

Sixth at the AT&T National forced him up to No.120 and his maiden PGA Tour win at the John Deere Classic in July 2013 took him up to No.59 and he’d sit just outside the world top 20 come the end of the calendar year after further excellent showings at the Wyndham Championship, the Deutsche Bank Championship and the TOUR Championship.

CONTINUES BELOW…

There were no wins in 2014 but a runner-up finish at the Masters saw him enter the world top ten for the first time, remaining at No.9 until the end of last year before his sensational 2015 kicked off.

His win at the Valspar Championship saw a move up to No.6, which then became No.4 after runner-up finishes at the Valero Texas Open and Shell Houston Open. But then his win at the Masters followed a week later and as world No.2 throughout an unbelievable run of results, he has now eventually been rewarded and, on the basis of what we’ve seen this year, he is likely to be at or around the summit for the foreseeable future.

Jordan Spieth :: World No.1

How long do you think Jordan Spieth will be world No.1 for? Leave your thoughts in the ‘Comments’ section below.