Jordan Spieth believes "golf is in a great place" as the mantle of world number one continues to change hands on a regular basis.
A two-time major winner in 2015, Spieth ensured he will reclaim top spot from Jason Day by finishing in a tie for seventh at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, a tournament won by rank outsider Russell Knox.
In recent months, Spieth, Day and Rory McIlroy have all enjoyed time at the summit of the rankings and the Australian's absence from this week's World Golf Championships event has resulted in another shift.
"It was certainly a goal coming into this week. I didn't know what it was going to take but I knew if I had a good week, it would be an improvement on a couple years ago. I knew I could go somewhere with it," Spieth said.
"Between Jason, Rory, Rickie [Fowler], Bubba [Watson], you name it; golf is in a great place.
"Guys are playing better than ever it seems like, at least for me over the last couple years. To shoot 20-under here [Knox's winning score] is ridiculous in the conditions we had.
"Everyone is pushing each other a little bit, and when that number-one ranking slips away, it leaves some unrest in you and you really want to get back at it. I think it's going to be really good for us and for golf."
McIlroy faces a battle to retain his Race to Dubai crown after his nearest rival in the standings, England's Danny Willett, produced a stunning 10-under round of 62 on Sunday to finish third in Shanghai.
Willett will have the chance to overtake McIlroy at next week's BMW Masters - a tournament the world number three will miss.
"He's playing next week and I'm not, so no matter what happened today, he has a good chance to maybe overtake me next week," said McIlroy when asked about Willett's final-round display.
"I'm just with the mind-set that I need to go to Dubai [for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship] and win and whatever happens from there, that's all I can do."
Willett added: "It's special shooting 62 at home with the lads, it's always nice, but in a World Golf Championships on a Sunday when it means something a bit more, obviously it's that little bit more special.
"It could be big. Especially with Rory not playing next week, we could climb a few more points on him and give us a nice buzz going into the next week in Dubai."