Justin Rose's fourth win of a heady season helped the 21-year-old Briton realise his immediate ambition of a top-50 place in the world rankings.
Rose moved up to 48th with his thrilling one-shot success in the British Masters, offering further proof that he has the potential to become quite a force in golf.
The win that took him to number seven in Europe was another giant step for a player who had already tested the highs and lows as a 17-year-old amateur who finished fourth in the 1998 British Open, and as an 18-year-old professional who went on to miss 21 successive cuts.
His second European Tour win this year, to go with his Dunhill Championship win in the country where he was born, South Africa, has been augmented by victories in the Nashua Masters, also in South Africa, and one of Japan's top events, the Chunichi Crowns.
"It is sort of pinch-yourself stuff but I feel quite comfortable with it," said the fast-maturing Rose after leaping 13 places on Europe's money-list.
"But I need to keep working hard and re-evaluating my goals.
"I've said for a while that a top-50 place in the world has to be one. I'm...going in the right direction now."
Padraig Harrington remains the top-ranked Irish player in the world at number 12 while Darren Clarke slips from 16th to 18th. Paul McGinley maintains his top-50 status at 46.
Leading world rankings (previous position in brackets):
1. (1) Tiger Woods (US) 15.64 points average
2. (2) Phil Mickelson (US) 9.01
3. (3) Ernie Els (South Africa) 7.79
4. (4) Retief Goosen (South Africa) 7.53
5. (5) Sergio Garcia (Spain) 6.67
6. (7) David Toms (US) 6.17
7. (6) David Duval (US) 6.09
8. (8) Vijay Singh (Fiji) 5.73
9. (9) Jim Furyk (US) 4.84
10. (10) Chris DiMarco (US) 4.80
11. (11) Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 4.70
12. (12) Padraig Harrington(Ireland) 4.56
13. (13) Davis Love III (US) 4.55
14. (22) Bob Estes (US) 4.43
15. (14) Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 4.34
16. (17) Colin Montgomerie (Britain) 4.33
17. (15) Rocco Mediate (US) 4.29
18. (16) Darren Clarke(Northern Ireland) 4.19
19. (18) Kenny Perry (US) 4.09
20. (19) Mike Weir (Canada) 3.93