Pádraig Harrington has slipped out of the world’s top 50 for the first time since 1999 as he prepares to make a return from a knee injury at the St Jude Classic in Memphis this week.
The three-time Major winner slipped to 51st in the latest world rankings, which is headed for the second week by England’s Luke Donald.
Rory McIlroy is now the top-ranked Irish golfer, despite dropping one place to seventh. Graeme McDowell’s 30th place at the Wales Open has cost him three spots as he dropped to eighth spot ahead of the defence of his US Open title next week.
Memorial winner Steve Stricker moves up four places to fourth spot, pushing Phil Mickelson back to fifth. Tiger Woods continues his fall down the rankings, dropping two places to 15th.
Latest leading positions in the world golf rankings:1 Luke Donald 9.21pts, 2 Lee Westwood 8.59, 3 Martin Kaymer 7.42, 4 Steve Stricker 6.54, 5 Phil Mickelson 6.06, 6 Matt Kuchar 5.67, 7 Rory McIlroy5.50, 8 Graeme McDowell5.45, 9 Dustin Johnson 5.16, 10 Paul Casey 5.16, 11 Charl Schwartzel 5.10, 12 Bubba Watson 4.96, 13 Ian Poulter 4.89, 14 Nick Watney 4.78, 15 Tiger Woods 4.69, 16 KJ Choi 4.47, 17 Jim Furyk 4.29, 18 Hunter Mahan 4.22, 19 Jason Day 4.19, 20 Francesco Molinari 4.10
Other leading Europeans:23 Robert Karlsson, 24 Alvaro Quiros, 25 Martin Laird, 26 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 29 Justin Rose, 30 Matteo Manassero, 35 Edoardo Molinari, 37 Anders Hansen, 46 Peter Hanson, 51 Pádraig Harrington, 54 Ross Fisher, 70 Thomas Bjorn, 71 Simon Dyson, 75 Sergio Garcia, 76 Gregory Bourdy, 77 Raphael Jacquelin, 79 David Horsey, 80 Alexander Noren, 81 Stephen Gallacher, 82 Nicolas Colsaerts, 90 Brian Davis, 93 Johan Edfors, 94 Darren Clarke, 99 Rhys Davies, 100 Jamie Donaldson
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