Kuchar rises, Spieth slides in world rankings

Matt Kuchar climbed 10 spots to No. 22 in the official world golf rankings released Monday, a day after the 40-year-old claimed his second victory of the PGA Tour season at the Sony Open in Honolulu.

Jordan Spieth failed to make the weekend for the second consecutive tournament, leading to a drop a spot to No. 18. That marks the Texan’s lowest ranking since December of 2013, according to the Golf Channel’s Will Gray.

Spieth is outside of the top 17 in the world rankings for the first time since the 2014 Sentry Tournament of Champions, and it marks a steep fall for a player who began the 2018 season ranked No. 2. He could tumble out of the top 20 depending on the results of players close to him in the rankings at this week’s Desert Classic in La Quint, Calif., and the European Tour event in Abu Dhabi.

Spieth shot a 4-under 66 on Friday but still missed the cut by one shot following an opening-round 73. It marked the fourth time in his career that Spieth has missed consecutive cuts.

He is idle this week.

The top 11 spots in the rankings remained unchanged from last week. Tiger Woods leapfrogged Rickie Fowler and England’s Tommy Fleetwood to move to No. 12 despite all three players being off last week. American Patrick Reed remains unchanged at 15th.

Australia’s Marc Leishman climbed to No. 16 with his tie for third place in Honolulu, as he has now recorded a win, a runner-up, a tie for third and a tie for fourth in his past five worldwide starts.

Bubba Watson, who also missed the cut at the Sony Open, dropped a spot to No. 17, followed by Spieth, Patrick Cantlay and Webb Simpson in the top 20.

American Andrew Putnam, who finished solo second to Kuchar, vaulted 22 places to a career-best No. 45.

World Golf Rankings (Jan. 13, 2019)

Ranking — Player (Last Week), Total Points

1 — Justin Rose (1) — 446.66

2 — Brooks Koepka (2) — 404.36

3 — Dustin Johnson (3) — 359.25

4 — Justin Thomas (4) — 388.66

5 — Bryson DeChambeau (5) — 366.77

6 — Xander Schauffele (6) — 333.69

7 — Jon Rahm (7) — 317.86

8 — Rory McIlroy (8) — 261.24

9 — Francesco Molinari (9) — 292.3

10 — Tony Finau (10) — 280.94

11 — Jason Day (11) — 220.66

12 — Tiger Woods (14) — 208.67

13 — Rickie Fowler (12) — 239.63

14 — Tommy Fleetwood (13) — 270.38

15 — Patrick Reed (15) — 259.6

16 — Marc Leishman (18) — 243.25

17 — Bubba Watson (16) — 205.45

18 — Jordan Spieth (17) — 207.86

19 — Patrick Cantlay (19) — 175.69

20 — Webb Simpson (20) — 223.72

–Field Level Media

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