Justin Thomas set himself up for another run at world No. 1.
Thomas returned to the No. 2 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking following his impressive victory Sunday at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. The exact scenarios will be known later this week, but it appears that Thomas will be able to reclaim the No. 1 spot with a win or a runner-up finish at this week’s PGA Championship, assuming he gets some help from Dustin Johnson.
Thomas held the No. 1 ranking for about three weeks this spring.
On Sunday, he flip-flopped spots in the world ranking with Justin Rose, who withdrew from Firestone because of back spasms.
Updated Official World Golf Ranking
Rory McIlroy jumped from seventh to fifth in the world after his tie for sixth at the final WGC of the season, though he’d probably view the final round as a missed opportunity. Playing in the final group with Thomas, McIlroy shot 73 on Sunday and slipped down the leaderboard.
Trading spots with McIlroy was Jon Rahm, who moved from fifth to seventh after his tie for 17th in Akron.
Tiger Woods gained entry into the final Tour event at Firestone by sitting 50th in the standings after The Open. After a tie for 31st last week, he actually dropped a spot, to No. 51.
Here is the top 10 in the world, in order, heading into the final major of the year: Johnson, Thomas, Rose, Brooks Koepka, McIlroy, Francesco Molinari, Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Jason Day.
