PGA Championship 2014: Final Leaderboard Results and Updated World Golf Ranking

Rory McIlroy continued his improbable streak Sunday, winning the 2014 PGA Championship by one stroke over a surging Phil Mickelson. It marked the third straight tournament win and the second consecutive major victory for the world's No. 1 golfer. Soft conditions at Valhalla provided optimal scoring opportunities for the field, as plush greens allowed players to take dead aim at pin positions and rack up some low numbers. To put the scoring frenzy into perspective, 19 of the tournament's top 23 finishers shot sub-70 rounds Sunday. Here's how the final leaderboard looks in the wake of the prestigious event:

 

 

That's right, another missed cut by former world No. 1 Tiger Woods has dropped him out of the top 10 for the first time since March 2012. Woods has been dealing with swing issues since returning from back surgery earlier in the year. The world's No. 11 golfer has put up abysmal numbers over his past several tournaments. Here's a look at his recent results: ESPN Stats & Info relayed a telling statistic regarding Woods' struggles: Tiger Woods: 3 birdies this week; matches his fewest combined birdies and eagles in a major (as professional or amateur) — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) While Woods continues to falter, McIlroy has become golf's most dominant player. After four consecutive sub-70 rounds at Valhalla, McIlroy hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time in his young career—he won the tournament in 2012 as well. Here's a great look at his winning putt and celebration, courtesy of PGA Tour: Watch it again: Rory's winning putt and celebration: http://t.co/i9PRZnFKGr — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) The victory puts McIlroy in some elite company, via Numbers Never Lie: Rory McIlroy is the 4th-youngest player to win 4th career major. http://t.co/6p5viGcpsH pic.twitter.com/SgyWB3fGD2 — Numbers Never Lie (@ESPN_Numbers) This hot streak has entrenched McIlroy in the limelight, as many fans and members of the media are clamoring for a changing of the guard as the face of golf—out with Tiger and in with Rory. ESPN summed it up with this tweet: We are entering a new era in golf: The Rory McIlroy era. pic.twitter.com/RGE4jW5ViI — ESPN (@espn) Even though McIlroy has surged to the top, we can't discount the stellar play of Mickelson. Lefty's surge on Sunday awarded him a tie atop the leaderboard for a short while. Unfortunately, he faltered with a late-round bogey—the stroke that would eventually mark the difference between first and second place. Still, this was the best Mickelson looked in quite some time, as we have seen him struggle through a roller-coaster season. It was great to see the fan favorite climb back into contention, and ESPN's Mike Greenberg put it perfectly: The presence of Phil Mickelson, more than anything else, made this a special day for golf. — Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) Mickelson was encouraged by his inspiring performance, and KPMG relayed one of his comments after his Sunday round: "I feel like I'm a lot closer to great play than I've showed this year. This is just a glimpse of what I know I can do." - PM — KPMG Mickelson (@MickelsonHat) While the year's final major is now in the rearview mirror, plenty of exciting tournaments are on the way, including the Wyndham Championship, The Barclays, the Deutsche Bank Championship, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship. We've seen some stellar golf in recent weeks, and as the FedEx Cup points continue to accumulate and we creep ever so closer to this year's Ryder Cup, we can expect the world's top players to provide continued breathtaking moments along the way.

Tiger's D.C. Tournament Moves Dates: PGA Tour Announces 2015 Schedule

The Quicken Loans National, hosted by Tiger Woods and typically held at courses near Washington, D.C., is switching dates, moving from around July 4 to the week of July 27-August 2. It will be followed by the WGC Bridgestone Invitational and then the PGA Championship. What that means for Woods, assuming he is able to play a full schedule next season, is that instead of playing two weeks in a row at the WGC Bridgestone and PGA, he will play three. It will be interesting to see how many other golfers come away from the British Open ready to play three in a row. It will also be interesting to see how many skip the Canadian Open, which keeps its position the week following the British Open. “After the successful debut of our wraparound schedule this season, we have another very strong schedule for 2014-2015 that will provide excitement for our fans and additional playing opportunities for our members,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem.   Other scheduling news features the previously announced move of the WGC Match Play to TPC Harding Park. The Match Play will be held the week before The Players. The Wells Fargo Championship, which had been prior to The Players, moves to the week after it.   "We are excited about the Match Play Championship being played at TPC Harding Park," Finchem added, noting the enthusiasm of golf fans in San Francisco in past seasons. The remaining two Texas tournaments, the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (May 18-24) and AT&T Byron Nelson Championship (May 25-31), rotate weeks but follow Wells Fargo.   A new event will be added to the schedule, to be played the same week as the British Open. It is the Barbasol Championship, which will be held at the Robert Trent Jones Trail’s Grand National Lake Course near Opelika, Alabama. An event that returns after a one-year absence is the Sanderson Farms, to be played in November opposite the HSBC-WGC Champions. “We look forward to the return of the Sanderson Farms Championship and are very pleased to welcome the Barbasol Championship to the PGA Tour," Finchem said. The regular season for 2014-15 PGA Tour Schedule will begin October 6 with the Frys.com at Silverado in Napa, California. The regular season will conclude with the Wyndham Championship on August 23 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The FedExCup Playoffs begin the following week, starting August 27 with The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey, followed by Deutsche Bank outside Boston. Then there is a one-week break. The third Playoff event, the BMW Championship, returns to Conway Farms outside of Chicago in mid-September. The Playoffs conclude with the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. Then the Presidents Cup will be held in South Korea the week of October 5-11, 2015, at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea with teams from the U.S. PGA Tour facing the International Team, which includes players from all countries except those qualified for Ryder Cup play. In total, there will be 47 FedExCup tournaments, plus the World Challenge. No doubt there will be a return of the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge and some other November/ December events, but they are not listed on the official calendar. The official season breaks from November 16 in 2014 to January 5 in 2015.  Although it is not on the official schedule for 2013-2014 or 2014-2015, the World Challenge, Tiger Woods' limited-field event, will be held December 1-7, 2014. The tournament moved from Sherwood Country Club outside Los Angeles to Isleworth Golf & Country Club in Orlando, owned by the Tavistock Group. Major sites for 2015 are as follows: The U.S. Open will be held at Chambers Bay, a public course in Washington; The British Open returns to The Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland; and The PGA Championship travels to Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin.   Kathy Bissell is a Golf Writer for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand or from official interview materials from the USGA, PGA Tour, R&A or PGA of America.

FedEx Cup 2014 Odds: Updated Outlook Following the Barclays

With The Barclays wrapped up, the FedEx Cup 2014 marches on to the Deutsche Bank Championship. Playoff events net big points for those in the FedEx Cup standings. Case in point: This week's winner, Hunter Mahan, jumped from 62nd to first in the standings thanks to his two-stroke victory at The Barclays.  Last week's points leader, Rory McIlroy, was knocked from his perch by the strong play of a pair of players at Ridgewood Country Club. How does his very vanilla showing in New Jersey affect his odds of lifting the cup going forward?  Click through for the answer to that question and more.