Rory McIlroy returns to World No.1 spot without even swinging a golf club

With the kind of form that Jordan Spieth was in, many were claiming that Rory McIlroy faced a battle to reclaim his number one place in the world rankings.

But the American's failure to make the cut at the Barclays this weekend means that McIlroy will be right back at number one when the rankings are updated Monday morning. https://twitter.com/JasonSobelESPN/status/637375461673299968 Spieth had overtaken McIlroy to reach number one for the first time in his career two weeks ago when the 22-year-old Texan finished runner-up to Jason Day at the US PGA Championship. But the most discussed rivalry in golf has swung the way of the Holywood golfer who skipped the tournament at Plainfield Country Club. Both Spieth and McIlroy are expected to tee off at next week's Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston and Spieth, who summed up his poor performance as a "tough week," played down the significance of the world rankings. "I’ve reached that peak already and I know it’s going to be close enough to where if I just get the job done next week, I’ll be back in that ranking," Spieth said. “But again, that ranking, it’s great once you reach it but it’s not something that I’m going to live or die on each week. It doesn’t really make much of a difference. If you go on a three or four-year cycle, Rory is number one in the world. If you go just base off of this year, I am."