WASHINGTON — Luke Donald will surrender his world number one golf ranking to Rory McIlroy after finishing the RBC Heritage in the United States in joint 37th.
Donald needed a top-eight placing in South Carolina to stay ahead of the Northern Irishman. However, he could only finish with a second successive level-par round of 71 to end the week on two over.
McIlroy wrote on Twitter: “#1 (One) again without touching a golf club this week . . . I wish it was that easy!”
The tournament was won by Sweden’s Carl Pettersson, with Donald never in contention after an opening-round 75.
“Is it a concern? No,” said Donald, who finished 16 shots behind Pettersson.
“Obviously, I’d have liked to have played a bit more consistently this year. I built it up nicely last year through tournaments and winning a bunch.”— BBC Sport