McIlroy makes Spieth claim

Rory McIlroy has ignored the world rankings by suggesting Jordan Spieth has been the best player in 2015 ahead of number one Jason Day.

The 26-year-old Northern Irishman enjoyed a stellar 2014 with major wins at the Open and PGA Championship, while he also was the leading money winner on the PGA Tour and won the European Tour order of merit.

However McIlroy’s form has dipped slightly throughout this year while American Spieth briefly replaced him at the top of the standings following major success at both the Masters Tournament and US Open, before finishing fourth at the Open and runner-up at the PGA Championship.

However Spieth dropped back to third having failed to make the cut at The Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship, before finishing tied for 13th at the BMW Championships.

But Day is now poised to end the year in top spot having won his first major title at the PGA Championship and then followed it up with success at The Barclays and at the BMW Championship for three-in-a-row.

The Australian is also on course to win the $10million bonus courtesy of finishing at the top of the FedEx Cup standings, although McIlroy believes Spieth has been the stand-out performer.

He told Sky Sports: “I’ve always viewed majors as the premium above anything else in golf, maybe that’s because I’m a major champion myself.

“Just with the way Jordan (Spieth) played in the majors this year, starting off at Augusta backing it up at the US Open and then having two great chances to win at the Open and at Whistling Straits.”

McIlroy added: “To be 54-under-par [in all four majors this year] has never been seen before in the history of golf, so two majors to one would be my thinking.

“Either guy would feel they deserve it, just what I feel is important in the game Jordan just pips it for me.”