This week in golf: McIlroy takes top spot, it's LIV Golf Team Championship time, and LPGA prepares for return to Japan

Just implicit a twelvemonth ago, Rory McIlroy was astatine a debased point.

The four-time large champion was moved to tears astatine the Ryder Cup astatine Whistling Straits, aft helium went 1-3 and could bash thing to halt the U.S. team's historical 19-9 beatdown of the Europeans. At 1 constituent successful 2021, McIlroy hadn't won successful 18 months and was ranked 15th successful the Official World Golf Ranking.

Since picking up that elusive triumph astatine the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship, McIlroy has won 4 much times, including the 2022 Tour Championship astatine East Lake successful August. On Sunday, helium won the CJ Cup for the 2nd consecutive season, this clip astatine Congaree Golf Club successful Ridgeland, South Carolina.

The latest triumph moved McIlroy backmost to No. 1 successful the satellite for the ninth clip successful his career. It's the archetypal clip he's held the apical spot since July 2020 and comes 10 years aft helium archetypal held the position.

"This tourney past twelvemonth was the commencement of maine trying to physique myself backmost up to this point," McIlroy said connected Sunday. "I had a truly unsmooth Ryder Cup. I deliberation I was extracurricular the apical 10 successful the satellite -- it's not a presumption that I'm utilized to being in."

A twelvemonth ago, LIV Golf was lone a susurration connected PGA Tour driving ranges and signifier greens. This week, the upstart circuit being fronted by two-time Open Championship victor Greg Norman takes halfway signifier successful nonrecreational men's play with its season-ending $50 cardinal squad championship, which tees disconnected Friday astatine Trump National Doral Miami.

For overmuch of the year, McIlroy has been the dependable and look of the PGA Tour during its conflict with LIV Golf for the apical players successful the world. When McIlroy was asked by reporters past week however agelong he'd similar to beryllium the No. 1 subordinate successful the world, helium already had an answer.

"332 [weeks]," McIlroy said. "I don't cognize if I can, but that's a fig successful my head."

That would beryllium 2nd astir successful men's play past -- 1 week much than Norman, who is 2nd lone to Tiger Woods' grounds of 683.

Here's what to ticker successful nonrecreational play this week:

What's adjacent connected the PGA Tour?

Butterfield Bermuda Championship
When: Thursday-Sunday
Where: Port Royal Golf Course, Southampton Parish, Bermuda
Defending champion: Lucas Herbert
Purse: $6.5 million

Three storylines to watch:

PGA Tour goes to Bermuda: After having a star-studded tract astatine the CJ Cup, it's a watered-down 1 successful Bermuda, with galore of the tour's apical players taking the week off. The tract includes a fewer caller PGA Tour winners specified arsenic Garrick Higgo, Seamus Power and Chad Ramey. Other notables successful the tract are European Ryder Cup skipper Luke Donald, Denny McCarthy and DP World Tour victor Adrian Meronk, who is playing connected a sponsor exemption. The victor inactive gets a afloat 500 FedEx Cup points.

Big John is back: Two-time large champion John Daly is scheduled to play successful Bermuda connected a sponsor exemption. Daly, 56, had 4 top-25s successful 18 starts successful PGA Tour Champions events this season. His champion decorativeness was a necktie for eighth astatine the American Family Insurance Championship successful June.

START YA NOISE, BERMUDA!#butterfieldbdachamp @PGA_JohnDaly pic.twitter.com/RvQQQJoy0E

Daly tied for 19th astatine the Constellation Furyk & Friends successful aboriginal October, little than 2 weeks aft helium underwent a platelet-rich plasma process connected his near knee. He missed the chopped astatine the PGA Championship astatine Southern Hills and the Open Championship astatine St. Andrews. It would beryllium his archetypal commencement successful a regular Tour lawsuit since missing the chopped astatine the Barracuda Championship successful August 2021.

Masters invitation up for grabs: The Masters is inactive a small much than 5 months away, but an invitation to Augusta National Golf Club volition beryllium connected the enactment astatine this week's Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship astatine Amata Spring Country Club successful Chonburi, Thailand. In fact, the victor aft 4 rounds volition besides person exemptions to the Open Championship astatine Royal Liverpool and the British Amateur adjacent year. Thailand's Ratchanon "TK" Chantanauwat is the highest-ranked amateur successful the tract astatine No. 12 successful the world. In April, helium bushed budding PGA Tour prima Tom Kim by 2 shots to triumph the Asian Mixed Cup astatine property 15 years, 1 period and six days, making him the youngest-ever victor of a tourney recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking. Wenyi Ding, 17, was the archetypal Chinese antheral to triumph a USGA title erstwhile helium won the U.S. Junior Amateur astatine Bandon Dunes successful July. Ding is 15th successful the satellite amateur rankings. Arizona State's James Leow, from Singapore, helped the Sun Devils decorativeness 2nd astatine the NCAA Division I championship. Leow besides was connected the winning Palmer Cup squad successful Switzerland. Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, won the APAC doubly successful 2010 and 2011.

What's adjacent successful LIV Golf?

LIV Golf Team Championship
When: Friday-Sunday
Where: Trump National Doral Miami
Purse: $50 million

Three storylines to watch:

Go team!: The season-ending $50 cardinal squad title astatine the Blue Monster volition footwear disconnected with a quality league astatine 9 a.m. ET connected Wednesday, successful which the captains of teams seeded 5th to 12th volition take their opponents for Friday's singles and foursomes matches, with the highest-seeded teams selecting first. Teams seeded archetypal to 4th volition person a first-round bye. Each lucifer Friday volition dwell of 2 singles matches and 1 alternate-shot (foursomes) match. Matches volition beryllium played until determination is simply a winner; determination volition beryllium nary ties. The 4 teams earning 2 points volition beforehand to Saturday's semifinals.

The play format: After Friday's matches, captains of the teams seeded archetypal to 4th and the 4 that precocious volition take their opponents for Saturday's semifinals. It volition beryllium the aforesaid format arsenic successful Friday's matches. The 4 teams that gain 2 points volition beforehand to Sunday's squad championship, successful which 16 players volition vie successful 1 shotgun-start circular of changeable play. Players volition vie successful twosomes, squad captains volition play together, and each people volition number towards a team's cumulative score. The squad with the lowest cumulative people aft 18 holes volition evenly divided $16 million. Second-place gets $10 million, and 3rd spot takes location $8 million. Dustin Johnson's 4 Aces GC is the apical effect with 152 points, followed by Bryson DeChambeau's Crushers (96 points), Sergio Garcia's Fireballs (93) and Louis Oosthuizen's Stinger GC (72).

Trump playing successful the pro-am: Like helium did astatine the LIV Golf Bedminster lawsuit successful New Jersey successful July, erstwhile U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to play successful Thursday's pro-am astatine the play people helium owns. Trump played with Brooks Koepka and Johnson astatine Bedminster. During that tournament, Trump was criticized by survivors and household members of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks for hosting a LIV Golf lawsuit truthful adjacent to New York. LIV Golf is financed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

"Well, I've known these radical for a agelong clip successful Saudi Arabia, and they've been friends of excavation for a agelong time," Trump told ESPN astatine Bedminster. "They've invested successful galore American companies, they ain large percentages of many, galore American companies, and frankly what they're doing for play is truthful great, what they're doing for the players is truthful great. The salaries are going to spell mode up. The PGA was not loved by a batch of the players, arsenic you know, for a agelong time. Now they person an alternate and cipher would person ever known determination was going to beryllium a golden unreserved similar this."

What's adjacent connected the LPGA Tour?

TOTO Japan Classic
When: Nov. 3-6
Where: Seta Golf Course, Shiga, Japan
Defending champion: Ai Suzuki (in 2019)
Purse: $2 million

Three storylines to watch:

A little hiatus: The LPGA and Swinging Skirts Golf Foundation announced successful August that the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA, scheduled for this week, would beryllium canceled for the 3rd consecutive play owed to COVID-19-related question restrictions. LPGA players volition get a week disconnected earlier closing retired their Asian plaything astatine the TOTO Japan Classic. It volition beryllium the LPGA's archetypal clip backmost successful Japan successful 3 years. The Japan Classic remained portion of the JLPGA's regular play successful each of the past 2 seasons, with South Korea's Jiyai Shin winning successful 2020 and Japan's Ayaka Furue successful 2021.

Ko widens lead: After picking up her 18th vocation triumph successful her autochthonal South Korea astatine the BMW Ladies Championship connected Sunday, Lydia Ko has opened a 420-point pb implicit 19-year-old Atthaya Thitikul successful the Race to CME Globe points standings. Australia's Minjee Lee is 527 points behind; Canada's Brooke M. Henderson is 546 points back. There are conscionable 2 events near earlier the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, scheduled for Nov. 17-20 successful Naples, Florida. After playing successful Japan, the LPGA returns to the U.S. for the Pelican Women's Championship successful Belleair, Florida, from Nov. 10-13. The apical 60 players (and ties) successful the points standings volition beforehand to the CME Group Tour Championship.

Thitikul closes successful connected rookie honor: With a sixth-place decorativeness astatine the BMW Ladies Championship, Thitikul has a 230-point vantage implicit South Korea's Hye-Jin Choi successful the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year points standings. Choi narrowed the spread with a necktie for 3rd successful her autochthonal South Korea, truthful it remains a adjacent contention with 3 events to play. Thitikul, from Thailand, changeable a 9-under 63 successful the archetypal circular astatine the BMW Ladies Championship, her 3rd circular of 63 oregon little successful LPGA events since mid-May.

Inside the Official World Golf Ranking

With his triumph astatine Congaree Golf Club, McIlroy became the No. 1 subordinate successful the satellite for the ninth clip successful his career. He supplanted Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, who moved to No. 1 aft winning the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play successful May and stayed determination until now. Here's a look astatine who moved up and down successful the satellite rankings this week:

Moving up

Tommy Fleetwood
Current rank: 24
Previous rank: 31

It had been a hard mates of years for the Englishman, but helium showed immense betterment with a necktie for 5th astatine the PGA Championship. He backed it up with ties for 4th astatine the Genesis Scottish Open, Open Championship and past the CJ Cup successful South Carolina. He ranks 3rd successful shots gained: full (2.965) successful 4 starts this season.

K.H. Lee
Current rank: 33
Previous rank: 42

A two-time victor of the AT&T Byron Nelson, Lee's third-place decorativeness astatine Congaree moved him up 9 spots successful the satellite ranking. It is the highest ranking of his career.

Kurt Kitayama
Current rank: 41
Previous rank: 56

The erstwhile UNLV prima is inactive searching for his archetypal PGA Tour victory, but a second-place decorativeness successful the CJ Cup collected him much than $1.1 million. Not a atrocious consolation prize. He was runner-up successful the Mexico Open astatine Vidanta and Scottish Open past season. It's the champion satellite ranking of his career.

Patrick Reed
Current rank: 57
Previous rank: 59

Not each LIV Golf players are moving down successful the satellite rankings. Reed moved up 2 spots this week. He made 1 commencement connected the Asian Tour and 2 starts connected the DP World Tour (tying for 5th astatine the BMW PGA Championship), successful summation to his LIV events, successful which he's not receiving world-ranking points. He was 25th successful the satellite astatine the extremity of 2021.

Taylor Montgomery
Current rank: 70
Previous rank: 74

The PGA Tour rookie remained red-hot with a 4th consecutive top-15 successful arsenic galore starts this season. He was solo 3rd astatine the Fortinet Championship, tied for ninth astatine the Sanderson Farms Championship, tied for 15th astatine the Shriners Children's Open and tied for 13th astatine the CJ Cup.

Moving down

Sergio Garcia
Current ranking: 86
Previous ranking: 83

The Spaniard's ranking has taken a beating since helium joined LIV Golf. Once ranked No. 2 successful the world, the 2017 Masters champion hasn't been ranked this debased since helium was 149th successful July, 1999.

Matthew Wolff

Current ranking: 136
Previous ranking: 134

Another LIV golfer, Wolff was ranked 12th successful the satellite and was 30th astatine the extremity of 2021. He hasn't collected OWGR points since his past PGA Tour commencement astatine the Travelers Championship.

Francesco Molinari

Current ranking: 153
Previous ranking: 148

Molinari's crippled collapsed successful the 2nd fractional of 2019 aft helium squandered a final-round pb astatine the Masters, and helium has struggled to regain accordant signifier ever since. A necktie for 15th astatine The Open and necktie for ninth astatine the BMW PGA Championship were encouraging signs. He'd astir apt similar thing much than to instrumentality to the European Ryder Cup squad successful his autochthonal Italy.

Webb Simpson

Current ranking: 99
Previous ranking: 98

He was the hottest subordinate connected the satellite astatine the commencement of 2020, winning the Waste Management Phoenix Open and RBC Heritage. Last season, helium had conscionable 1 top-10 successful 20 starts.

Zach Johnson

Current ranking: 369
Previous ranking: 359

Johnson, a two-time large champion and U.S. skipper for adjacent year's Ryder Cup successful Rome, made the chopped successful 10 of 23 starts connected circuit past year.

On the record

It has been rather a fewer weeks for Willie Mack III. On Oct. 12, helium won a three-man playoff to assertion the Butterfield Bermuda APGA Championship astatine Port Royal Golf Course successful Bermuda. On Friday, Mack earned a Korn Ferry Tour paper for the archetypal clip by surviving the Second Stage of Q-School. On Tuesday, Mack is scheduled to alert to Bermuda to marque his sixth commencement successful a PGA Tour event; helium was awarded a sponsor exemption aft winning the APGA lawsuit there. Mack talked to ESPN connected Monday astir his unthinkable journey.

Q: What did it mean to you, aft truthful long, to yet get a Korn Ferry Tour card?

A: There were a batch of emotions, particularly aft talking to my dada connected the phone. I had my ma and measurement dad, member and sister and my woman there, truthful it was beauteous bully to person those radical determination to enactment maine each week. It's been a agelong clip coming.

Q: You mentioned your father. He was paying 2 mortgages astatine 1 constituent to guarantee that you could play astatine a precocious schoolhouse with a amended play team. How important were his sacrifices to your vocation development?

A: I didn't cognize astir the houses until aboriginal on. He did immoderate things that I didn't adjacent cognize were going on. I benignant of person to springiness him each the credit. He sacrificed a lot, including his idiosyncratic time, to marque definite I had what I needed to get to tournaments. As a kid, you truly don't recognize until you get older what your parents really bash for you without you knowing.

Q: Tiger Woods gave you a sponsor exemption to play successful the Genesis Invitational successful February 2021. What did it mean to you to conscionable him?

A: That was a imagination travel true. I missed the cut, but being capable to person luncheon with Tiger for an hr and a fractional was thing I'll ne'er forget. It made that missed chopped a small spot better.

Q: How overmuch did Tiger animate you to play golf?

A: My dada and I were flipping done the channels 1 Sunday watching football, and we saw Tiger and stopped and watched. I got hooked connected play from there. I got immoderate small integrative balls and deed them successful the backyard and surviving room.

Q: How important has the Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour [which has a ngo to bring greater diverseness to play by processing African-American players and different minorities] been to your occurrence successful golf?

A: I started playing arsenic a pro astir the clip that circuit started. The archetypal year, I deliberation it lone had 2 events. Over the years, it enactment connected much events for much money, and it was bully to beryllium capable to play successful the APGA events successful betwixt the bigger events I was playing. The past mates of years, it's been truly bully with prize money, truthful that decidedly has helped out. [Advocates CEO Kenneth Bentley] was capable to assistance maine get a sponsorship with Farmers Insurance, which decidedly helped retired a lot.

Q: Is it existent that you were erstwhile sleeping retired of your car successful betwixt tournaments?

A: The twelvemonth I turned pro was the past twelvemonth you could spell consecutive to the PGA Tour from Q-School. I made it to the Second Stage and missed going to the finals by 2 strokes. After that, retired of the adjacent 3 years, I astir apt slept successful and retired of my car for a twelvemonth and a half. I was connected the road, trying to marque thing happen.

Q: At property 34, bash you deliberation you're inactive processing arsenic a player?

A: Definitely. If you look astatine the PGA Tour, determination are a batch of guys successful their 40s who are inactive playing well. I deliberation play is simply a athletics wherever assurance and acquisition are everything. I'm a amended golfer than I was past year. I deliberation I inactive person a batch successful the tank.

Q: What are your goals going forward?

A: I decidedly privation to play good this week. I privation to play good astatine finals and get immoderate bully Korn Ferry Tour starts. Hopefully, I'll play good connected the Korn Ferry Tour and beryllium connected the PGA Tour adjacent year.