Rahm jumps to top of golf world rankings after winning The Memorial

Jon Rahm has become the new world number one in men's professional golf ©Getty Images

Spanish golfer Jon Rahm has risen to the top of the sport's world rankings for the first time in his career after winning the Memorial Tournament on July 19,

He becomes only the second player from his nation to go to the top of the rankings after the late Seve Ballesteros.

Rahm took the tournament win at Muirfield Village in Ohio in the United States after finishing three shots ahead of American Ryan Palmer on nine under par.

He held a four-shot lead over Palmer and fellow American Tony Finau going into the final day, with the latter fading to finish at two under par.

England's Matt Fitzpatrick, his compatriot Matt Wallace and Australian Jason Day rounded off the top five.

The Spaniard overtook Ireland's Rory McIlroy who could only muster four over par alongside Spain's Sergio Garcia.

Tiger Woods' comeback in a bid to make the US Olympic team took a hit when he only managed six over par in his first competition back.

Despite that, Woods said he was pleased with aspects of his performance.

Speaking about his latest achievement, Rahm said: "I've accomplished a lifelong goal and any time I can join Spanish history with Seve is incredible, but it's hard to process right now because golf feels secondary.

"There are so many things going through my mind right now that have nothing to do with golf."

Wow! So grateful to be coming home from @jacknicklaus place with a victory. Thank you to everyone at Muirfield for putting together such great tournaments two weeks in a row and especially to the Nicklaus family for their hospitality. It was a week I’ll never forget. pic.twitter.com/nNHol1Cry9
— Jon Rahm Rodriguez (@JonRahmpga) July 21, 2020

The 25-year-old has lost two members of his family to COVID-19, which was heavily prevalent from March to May in Spain.

Rahm's win ends McIlroy's reign at the top of the world rankings that started in February, bringing the Northern Irishman's cumulative number of weeks as world number one to 106 - the third highest in history behind Woods and Greg Norman.

It was the sixth Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour event since the restart of golf in the US, following the three-month shutdown due to the pandemic.

The Memorial had initially been earmarked as the event that would reintroduce fans, but plans have since changed and the remainder of the current PGA Tour season, scheduled to end in September, will be played without spectators present.

To date, there are over 3.98 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US, resulting in the deaths of at least 144,000 people.

Elsewhere in the world rankings, the top 20 looks largely unchanged with the only big movers being Finau and Fitzpatrick who have moved up to 17th and 20th respectively.

Palmer's runner-up performance saw him rise to 40th from 73rd - the highest jump in the top 100.