McIlroy tightens hold on golf's No. 1 spot

VIRGINIA WATER, England, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Rory McIlroy's second high-profile win in less than a month solidified his hold on the No. 1 spot in the men's world golf rankings.

McIlroy rallied Monday to win the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second tournament in the four-event FedEx Cup playoffs. McIlroy was down as many as three strokes in the final round before passing Louis Oosthuizen and claiming a one-stroke victory.

The win came a few weeks after McIlroy claimed the PGA Championship, which had returned him to the No. 1 spot in the rankings. His rankings point average, as of Tuesday, is 11.512.

Luke Donald remains No. 2 with an average of 9.290 but third-ranked Tiger Woods, who was third at the Deutsche Bank Championship, pulled close at 9.256. Woods collected $544,000 for the third-place finish and became the first golfer to pass $100 million in career winnings.

Lee Westwood, with an average of 7.135, is still ranked fourth and Webb Simpson (6.154) is fifth.

Adam Scott, who tied for seventh Monday, moves from ninth to No. 6 in the rankings right behind Simpson at 6.151. Jason Dufner (6.090) keeps the No. 7 ranking but Bubba Watson (5.998) slips from sixth to No. 8 and Justin Rose (5.932) drops one place to No. 9.

Steve Stricker is still 10th at 5.716 but the strong showing by Oosthuizen pulled him to 11th at 5.715.

Richie Ramsay won the European Tour's Omega European Masters in Switzerland by four strokes and bolts from 110th to No. 68. It was his second European Tour win.