Date: September 19, 2017
Author: Martin Blake

Leishman soars into top 15

Marc Leishman has climbed into the top 15 on the official world rankings for the first time after his victory in the BMW Championship in Chicago.

Leishman leapt from what was already a career-high of No. 22 to 15th in this week's rankings list, pushing him to No. 2 among Australians behind Jason Day.

The Victorian has overtaken Adam Scott (No. 22) for the first time while Day's fourth place in the PGA Tour playoff event saw him jump back to No. 6.

Leishman was ranked 56th in the world at the end of 2016, making him one of the biggest climbers of the year.

After the win at Conway Farms on Sunday he said he had always believed he could reach these heights. 

 "I always thought I was good enough to get into the top 20 but, you know, thinking you're good enough to do it and doing it are different things,'' he said. "So, yes, I didn't actually know that. That's pretty cool to go into the Top 15. Like I say, in my own head I thought I could do it but actually doing it is a different thing. That's another thing that's pretty satisfying about today.''

The in-form Australian will this week attempt to become the first of his countrymen to win the US Tour's $10 million Fedex Cup bonus as the leading player on the tour this year.

That will be decided at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, where the top 30 players on the points standings will slug it out for a tournament that is worth $8.75 million in itself, even before the bonuses are handed out.

Last year Rory McIlroy won the Tour Championship as well as the Fedex Cup, meaning he picked up $US11.5 million in a single day.

The 33-year-old Virginia-based Leishman is ranked fourth on the points table behind Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson, but a points reset means that as a top-five player, he is guaranteed to win the Fedex Cup should he win the Tour Championship.