World Golf Rankings 2015: Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth Top Latest Standings

Rory McIlroy is the world's No. 1 golfer. Again. The Northern Irishman overtook Jordan Spieth on this week's rankings despite not playing in a sanctioned event, thanks to a previous tournament being wiped away from his two-year total.

According to ESPN's Bob Harig, the 0.023 average points of separation are the fewest between the top two players since the World Golf Rankings began.

McIlroy and Spieth have traded off the top spot throughout the last month. Spieth earned his first No. 1 ranking after finishing second at the PGA Championship before a cut at the Barclays sent him back behind McIlroy. He regained the top spot briefly after the Deutsche Bank Championship. 

Ranking	Golfer
1	Rory McIlroy
2	Jordan Spieth
3	Jason Day
4	Bubba Watson
5	Rickie Fowler
6	Henrik Stenson
7	Jim Furyk
8	Justin Rose
9	Dustin Johnson
10	Sergio Garcia

McIlroy, who has held the top spot for the better part of the last two years, has not won a PGA-sanctioned event since May's Wells Fargo Championship. An ankle injury in July kept him off the course for a month, which saw him miss the Open Championship.

The 26-year-old has largely been solid since returning, finishing 17th at the PGA Championship and 29th at the Deutsche Bank, but he still hasn't regained his elite form.

Spieth has been the no-questions-asked player of the year in 2015. He took home the year's first two majors at Augusta and Chambers Bay before finishing in a tie for fourth at the Open Championship and second at the PGA. His game has seen a disappointing slide since the end of the major season, though—something he'll look to recover from this week at the BMW Championship.

“I’ve done a lot of things I’ve never done positively this year. This is something I’ve never done that’s negative,” Spieth said, per Michael Whitmer of the Boston Globe. “Normally my mental game is my strength. These past two weeks it was a weakness for me. I’ve just got to go back and reassess how to remain positive.”

Of course, McIlroy and Spieth both have PGA Championship winner Jason Day directly in their rearview. Day could ascend to the sport's top ranking for the first time this weekend.

He's taken home three of his last five events and has not finished any worse than 12th since June. The Australian's win at the Barclays gave him a FedEx Cup lead he'll carry into the weekend.

We'll have to see whether that momentum will turn him into the world's best player. At the very least, the intrigue here is palpable. 

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