Sweden's Carl Pettersson comfortably won the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage as Luke Donald couldn’t do enough to prevent losing the world No 1 ranking to Rory McIlroy.
Pettersson shot a final round 2-under 69 to finish the tournament with a 14-under total, five shot ahead of Zach Johnson.
"The swing felt good," Pettersson said. "I felt calm. It was a great feeling today."
Donald, on the other hand, needed at least a share of eighth place to keep hold of the world No 1 ranking, despite the fact that McIlroy wasn’t playing this week.
The Englishman began the final round in 52nd place and in need of a stellar performance to hang on to the top spot on the men’s ranking.
His level-par 71 was only good enough to lift him into a tie for 37th with a 2-over total for the tournament, which means McIlroy will move to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking when the new list is released.
It was a relatively easy final round for Pettersson after he birdied three of the first five holes to pull away from the field.
"Getting off to a birdie on No 1 was great," said the Swede, who sank a 24-foot putt at the first and thrived on the outward side throughout the tournament.
"The whole front nine I played really good."
Pettersson said a swing change from three weeks ago in the Houston Open had paid off.
"In Houston I found that new swing key, just opened up my stance and left my left hip clear through the ball," he said. "I've played great. So hopefully this feeling lasts a long time."
"I felt like this year my game was starting to come back to where it was. I played really solid. It's fun to play again, and I kept the weight on."
South African Rory Sabbatini finished in a tie for 17th place after shooting 72 in the final round, while Trevor Immelman and Brendon de Jonge tied for 29th with 1-over totals.
Tim Clark finished on 2-over, and Ernie Els failed to make the cut.
| Player | Score |
|---|---|
| Carl Pettersson | -14 |
| Zach Johnson | -9 |
| Colt Knost | -8 |
| Kevin Stadler | -6 |
| Billy Mayfair | -6 |
| Matt Bettencourt | -5 |
| Boo Weekly | -5 |
| Matt Every | -4 |
| Charley Hoffman | -4 |
| Jim Furyk | -4 |
|
