American Jordan Spieth began 2015 as the fresh-faced No. 9 ranked golfer in the world, loaded with promise to take the PGA by storm at just 21 years of age. With the year coming to a close, Spieth has more than proven his talent and will finish the year as the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world.
Beating out many notable PGA veterans, the Texas native launched to stardom with a record-setting Masters victory and followed up with a dominate run at the U.S. Open, before a fourth-place finish at St. Andrew’s and a thrilling runner-up result at the PGA Championship.
His awe-inspiring finish at Whistling Straits propelled Spieth into golf’s elite, and he eventually overtook Australia’s Jason Day for the world’s top ranking after tying for seventh at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai last month. From there, Spieth further solidified his standing as golf’s best, edging out Day with 619.76 total points over 52 events for an average of 11.9184 points per appearance compared to Day’s 464.27 points and 11.6066 average, according to the official rankings.
But No. 2 Day retains a healthy lead over No. 3 and former No. 1 Rory McIlroy, and he put up astonishing numbers across most of golf’s majors this year. The 28-year-old Day beat Spieth for the PGA Championship, came in fourth at the British Open, and ninth at the U.S. Open, and wound up with five total wins and three top 10 finishes on the year.
After a fourth-place run at the Masters, a serious foot injury forced McIlroy to sit out his defense of the British title, but he roared back to come in ninth at the U.S. and shot at respectable nine-under at the PGAs. All told, Northern Ireland’s favorite son fired off two wins and two top 10 finishes to stay in the top three after spending 34 out of 45 weeks at No. 1 this year.
American and fan favorite Phil Mickelson slipped two spots overall this year to No. 29 after a difficult run over 19 tournaments. The former No. 2-ranked star couldn’t muster a victory this season and finished in the top 10 once. Mickelson will likely spend next year improving on his poor work at three of the four majors. The 45-year-old finished second to Spieth at the Masters, but shot 13-over at the U.S. for 64 th place, and only reached as high as 20th place at the British and PGA Championship.
But the year-end rankings wouldn’t be complete without discussing the continuing slide of former No. 1 Tiger Woods. Injuries, surgeries, a seemingly endless retooling of his swing, and overall poor play have bumped the 39-year-old completely off the rankings after starting the year at No. 32.
Like his rival Mickelson, Woods managed one top 10 finish and didn’t win a single tournament. And next year isn’t looking any better for Woods, who told reporters Sunday that he hasn’t started rehab following a second back surgery though he does hope to return to the tour.
Here’s a look at the top 25 rankings of 2015, including each players’ current points total. Some players have more than others, but the ranking comes down to what each player averages per event.
Official World Golf Rankings
1.Jordan Spieth, United States, 619.76 total points
2.Jason Day, Australia, 464.27
3.Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland, 510.96
4.Bubba Watson, United States, 344.68
5.Justin Rose, England, 382.69
6.Rickie Fowler, United States, 377.69
7.Henrik Stenson, Sweden, 371.10
8.Dustin Johnson, United States, 257.62
9.Jim Furyk, United States, 245.00
10.Adam Scott, Australia, 194.43
11.Zach Johnson, United States, 236.82
12.Sergio Garcia, Spain, 206.54
13.Patrick Reed, United States, 224.79
14.Hideki Matsuyama, Japan, 220.07
15.Branden Grace, South Africa, 215.14
16.Kevin Kisner, United States, 213.39
17.Brooks Koepka, United States, 213.29
18.Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa, 194.71
19.Matt Kuchar, United States, 203.38
20.Danny Willett, England, 199.56
21.Shane Lowry, Ireland, 189.29
22.Kevin Na, United States, 190.51
23.J.B. Holmes, United States, 175.14
24.Paul Casey, England, 180.98
25.Jimmy Walker, United States, 180.79
