Rory McIlroy: four-fold big winner who returns to world number one

Rory McIlroy finished third jointly last month in the Framers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines

Rory McIlroy will replace Brooks Koepka as number one despite not playing this week.

The quadruple big winner from Northern Ireland will leapfrog Koepka when the rankings are updated after this week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM.

Koepka and world number three Jon Rahm also miss the event and the two-year rolling format of the ranking system will see McIlroy go top.

McIlroy returns for the first time since 2015 as world number one.

The complex nature of the ranking system will push the 30-year-old from 0.2 points behind Keopka to three hundredth of a point before.

McIlroy said last month that returning to world number one would "take care of itself."

He added: "It's all about the process, it's all about the game, it's all about trying to make imp rovements.

" If I do that and I do that goals, I will hopefully inevitably get into that position. It is a by-product of consistent good golf and I have been doing that for a while now. "