Rory McIlroy consolidated his lead atop the world golf rankings with his second straight win on the USPGA Tour on Sunday, while Tiger Woods moved back to second as his main challenger.

The 23-year old Northern Irishman spent most of the first half of the year in a tit-for-tat battle with Englishman Luke Donald for the top spot, but all that has changed over the past few weeks.

First McIlroy won his second major title at the USPGA at Kiawah Island in

August and then in the US Tour playoffs he has played more sublime golf to win at both the Deutsche Bank Championships last week and on Sunday at the BMW

Championships.

In so doing he became the first player since Woods in 2009 to win in successive weeks on the US tour and he joined Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the

only players to win at least six PGA Tour events before his 24th birthday.

He also stormed ahead in the world rankings with 12.80 points, with Woods

overtaking Donald on 9.63 points. Donald drops to third with 9.17 points with another former No.1, Lee Westwood of England, in fourth on 7.57 points.

Adam Scott is fifth (6.37) as the only Australian in the top 20.

Woods, third and fourth in the past fortnight, lost his world No.1 spot to Westwood in November 2010 and, with injury dogging him last year, he slumped out of the top 50 before beginning his recovery in the northern summer.