The back-and-forth between Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth at the top of the world rankings shows no sign of slowing down, with a further change possible after this week’s BMW Championship in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Northern Irishman McIlroy returned to the summit when the latest rankings were issued on Monday, the fourth successive week that he and the US’ Spieth have traded places.
The margin between the two is a wafer-thin 0.023 average points, the narrowest gap between the world’s top two players since the official rankings were launched in 1986.
McIlroy and Spieth are both in the field for the BMW Championship, the penultimate FedEx Cup playoff event of the season, and either of them — along with third-ranked Australian Jason Day — could be world No. 1 next week.
“It’ll be like that until one of us separates ourselves a little bit,” McIlroy told reporters ahead of tomorrow’s opening round at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest.
“At the end of the day, it’s just about playing and playing well. I don’t know any other way we could determine the best player in the world,” McIlroy said. “You could do it on a one-year point system instead of two. I think two years is a good reflection of how you played.”
The ranking system is structured on a two-year “rolling” period, with points awarded for each event and then maintained for a 13-week spell to give additional emphasis on recent performances.
Ranking points are then reduced in equal decrements for the remaining 91 weeks of the two-year time frame. Each player is ranked according to his average points per tournament.
“We’re all focused on our own goals,” said Masters and US Open champion Spieth, who became world No. 1 for the first time after finishing runner-up to the triumphant Day in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits last month.
“As one, two and three in the world, we’re the three that have to beat each other at the top right now in order to try to get to the top, or to remain at the top,” Spieth said. “I’m not focused on what either one’s doing on the leaderboard unless they’re in the lead, and then if they’re in the lead, how do I get up there and surpass them?”
The only previous time when there were changes at the top of the rankings for four successive weeks was in June 1997 when Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and then Norman again traded places.
Odds are good that McIlroy and Spieth will keep their “merry-go-round” at the top going into a fifth consecutive week and perhaps beyond, with Day in close pursuit to make it a three-way battle.
Golf fans can now savor the tantalizing prospect of that trio challenging for supremacy in the blue ribbon events for at least the next five years with McIlroy aged 26, Spieth 22 and Day 27.
Between them, they have won five of the last six major championships played, with all three having developed a habit of shining at their brightest on the sport’s biggest stage.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care