World no. 1 at stake in PGA Championship: McIlroy, Spieth dispute who’s who

SHEBOYGAN, Wisconsin – Rory McIlroy faces a different set of questions from the last time he played, and he had answers for most of them.

His left ankle, with swelling the size of a tennis ball after he heard it snap while playing soccer with friends in early July, felt fine when he got off the plane and began preparing for the final major of the year. His game is good, and he sees no one reason why that will change when the PGA Championship starts Thursday. One other question was a little more tricky.

Who’s the best player in the world?

McIlroy is No. 1 in the world ranking. He also has watched Jordan Spieth produce an inspiring year in golf by winning the Masters and US Open, and then coming within one shot of a playoff at the British Open. Spieth has four wins this year, one more than McIlroy, though two of them are majors.

“If you were to go by this year, you would have to say Jordan,” McIlroy said. “If you go over the last two years, I would say it’s probably a toss-up between Jordan and myself. That’s a hard one. OK, we’ve got the rankings there, but it’s all a matter of opinion.”

And what was his opinion?

“I’ll tell you at the end of the week,” McIlroy said with a smile.

The shine came off golf when Spieth’s bid for the Grand Slam ended at St. Andrews. It returned when McIlroy began posting photos and videos last week that indicated he would be playing at Whistling Straits, his first tournament since the US Open.

They face off Thursday afternoon, in the same group with British Open champion Zach Johnson. It will be the third time in the last eight majors that McIlroy and Spieth have played together the opening two rounds.

It has never received attention like this.

“I think that’s just what you guys want to see,” Spieth said. “I think he and I just want to go out there and try and win the tournament. We have to beat each other in order to do that, along with ... 155 other guys. It’s great. We’re all very happy to see him back. I’m excited to just share a couple days with Rory, and Zach as well.”