Jordan Spieth overtakes Rory McIlroy for world No. 1 ranking

Jordan Spieth came up just short of winning the 2015 PGA Championship, but he will leave Whistling Straits as the new No. 1 player in the world. Spieth finished second to Jason Day, which was good enough for him to surpass Rory McIlroy for the No. 1 ranking.

Spieth began 2014 as the No. 9 player in the world, but quickly rose up the list as the season got underway. A win at the Masters boosted his ranking and another victory at the U.S. Open made him a serious threat to overtake McIlroy. Speith has won four times this season. A win at the PGA Championship would have guaranteed him the No. 1 ranking as long as McIlroy didn’t finish alone in second place. By finishing in second place by himself, Spieth needed McIlroy to finish worse than a tie for sixth in order to become the new No. 1. McIlroy finished 17th at 9-under to seal Spieth as the No. 1.

“It feels really good,” Spieth said after the round when asked about the No. 1 ranking. “It’s an unbelievable feeling.”

Day recently celebrated his 22nd birthday and becomes the second-youngest player to claim the world No. 1 ranking, trailing only Tiger Woods, who was 21 years and 167 days when he first became No. 1. McIlroy had been the second-youngest prior to Spieth.

McIlroy reclaimed the world No. 1 ranking last summer when he won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He may have held off Spieth for a few more weeks ohad he not suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss the British Open and 2015 WGC-Bridgestone. For his career, McIlroy has held the No. 1 ranking for 93 weeks. He and Spieth could vie for the top spot in the next few weeks with several notable events upcoming. For now, McIlroy is content to congratulate Spieth on taking the spot.

In addition to claiming the No.1 ranking, Spieth surpassed the $10 million mark on the PGA Tour money list, the first person since Woods in 2009 to do that.