Rory McIlroy still had something to cheer this morning despite missing out on the European Tour number one spot – as he became only the second 20-year-old to enter the world’s top 10.
Sergio Garcia was the only other golfer to make it so young. Even the great Tiger Woods didn’t make it until he was 21 in 1997.
Contrary to initial projections, McIlroy’s third place finish at the Dubai World Championship was just enough to take him from 13th to 10th.
Lee Westwood, whose six-stroke victory denied McIlroy the Race to Dubai title, is back up to his career-high position of fourth.
Pádraig Harrington is sixth after his fourth place finish in Dubai.
Latest rankings:
1 Tiger Woods 15.93pts, 2 Phil Mickelson 8.95, 3 Steve Stricker 7.20, 4 Lee Westwood, 5 Paul Casey 5.82,
6 Padraig Harrington 5.82
, 7 Henrik Stenson, 8 Sergio Garcia 5.18, 9 Kenny Perry 5.17,
10 Rory McIlroy 5.12
11 Jim Furyk 5.08, 12 Martin Kaymer 4.89, 13 Ian Poulter 4.83, 14 Geoff Ogilvy 4.78, 15 Sean O’Hair 4.46, 16 Stewart Cink 4.44, 17 Ernie Els 4.28, 18 Lucas Glover 4.09, 19 Retief Goosen 4.05, 20 Ross Fisher 4.02
Other leading Europeans:
25 Robert Karlsson, 28 Luke Donald, 33 Soren Kjeldsen, 37 Francesco Molinari, 40 Oliver Wilson, 42 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 44 Soren Hansen, 45 Simon Dyson, 46 Alvaro Quiros, 47 Anders Hansen, 49 Peter Hanson,
51 Graeme McDowell
, 53 Alexander Noren, 60 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, 63 Edoardo Molinari, 68 Justin Rose, 70 Ross McGowan, 71 Chris Wood, 81 Anthony Wall, 88 Gregory Bourdy, 98 Thomas Levet.
