British Open 2015: Leaderboard Results, Updated World Rankings Post-St Andrews

There was a little bit of everything at this year's British Open. It ended in dramatic fashion with a three-man, four-hole playoff won by Zach Johnson, who fired a 66 through 18 holes just to get in that position, and it came after bad weather pushed the tournament finish to Monday. 

Of course, those were just the main stories. There was the two-day collapse of Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth hitting an untimely bogey on 17 to miss the playoff by one stroke that ended his chances for a third straight major title. 

Golf has been on a major upswing this year thanks to the rise of Spieth as well as great drama in all three big events. Even with the steep decline of the sport's best-known figure, Tiger Woods, this new era is in excellent hands. 

Updated World Rankings

Pos.	Player	Avg. Points	Last Week
1	Rory McIlroy	12.6022	1
2	Jordan Spieth	11.663	2
3	Bubba Watson	7.0885	3
4	Dustin Johnson	6.6022	4
5	Justin Rose	6.4959	8
6	Rickie Fowler	6.4376	5
7	Jim Furyk	6.3928	6
8	Henrik Stenson	6.2408	7
9	Jason Day	6.1380	9
10	Sergio Garcia	5.6931	10
11	Adam Scott	5.3127	11
12	Zach Johnson	5.1205	25
13	Louis Oosthuizen	5.0559	17
14	Jimmy Walker	4.9012	12
15	Hideki Matsuyama	4.3951	14

Full rankings can be found at OWGR.com by clicking here.

Jon Super/Associated Press

The big winners in the rankings following the British Open were Johnson, who rose 13 spots with his victory, and Justin Rose. 

Rose, who finished tied for sixth at 11 under, was a pleasant surprise at St. Andrews because historically he's struggled at this tournament. He's only had one top-10 finish in this event, as an amateur in 1998. 

There's also been a high level of inconsistency for the 34-year-old this season. He's got four top-10 finishes and missed four cuts. He tied for second at the Masters but finished outside the top 25 at the U.S. Open. 

After his strong finish at the British Open, Rose told James Nursey of the Mirror that his success may have been helped by a certain club change. 

"I changed putters this week, so that was a bit of an unknown coming into the week and that felt really good," Rose said. "I holed out really well from inside six feet this week, and I think that’s something I can really build on for the rest of the year."

The numbers support Rose's claim, as TheOpen.com shows he tied for 11th with the fewest putts needed in any round (27 in round two). 

There are so many things that can go wrong on a golf course, but putting well can hide a lot of deficiencies. Rose found something that works for him and needs to carry that forward so he can stay in the top five all year.

Johnson is on the periphery of the top 10 following his big victory at St. Andrews. This was a moment he'd been building toward all year, having seven top-10 finishes in 18 PGA Tour events before the British Open. 

One thing that went overlooked after Johnson's success on Monday was his start to the tournament, per ESPN's Trey Wingo:

That 66 on Thursday, in blustery conditions, set Johnson up to repeat that effort on Monday when he needed to make a move. 

There's no mystery with Johnson at this point in his career. He's a solid 39-year-old golfer who can still occasionally do brilliant things. This isn't the beginning of an epic run that will launch him into the stratosphere with Spieth and Bubba Watson on the top-U.S.-born-players list. 

Speaking of Spieth, finishing tied for fourth did cost him in more ways than one. Aside from the obvious pain of losing a major tournament after fighting so hard to get back into contention, the 21-year-old had a chance to become the world's top-ranked player, per PGA Tour:

Instead, Spieth will have to "settle" for being No. 2 in the rankings and possibly setting up a showdown with Rory McIlroy at the PGA Championship in August. 

McIlroy, who missed the British Open with an ankle injury, won the PGA Championship last year. There's still no official word on his status for the tournament, though Tim Rosaforte of Golf Digest had this nugget from Darren Clarke following an event on July 14:

If that timetable is true for McIlroy, there's no reason to think Spieth won't end up in the top spot by the end of this season. He's reached a point in which finishing fourth in a major tournament is a disappointment. 

Even though Johnson got the glory for winning at St. Andrews, the stage is still set to make sure Spieth ends up claiming his spot as the world's best player.