WORLD RANKINGS: RORY RULES

Rory McIlroy didn't play any competitive golf this past weekend, but the 26-year-old Northern Ireland golfing millionaire remained at the top of the golf's official World Ranking List for the 50th straight week when it was posted on Monday.

McIlroy, his home-town Holywood's favourite son, recently saw his flagging career suddenly take off again after he had ended his relationship with tennis star Caroline Wosniacki and got his mind back on golf and currently sits on top of the world with an 11.60 average points that puts him way out in front of the chasing pack.

This partly due, of course, to the fact that in a brilliant blitz between July 20 and August 10 he was able to sandwich the coveted WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. title between the rare Major double of the British Open and the PGA Championship and boost his already bulging bank balance by another collective five million dollars.

And with some big European Tour events still to come, not the least of them being the Tour's season-ending finale, the DB World Tour Championship in Dubai on November 20, his stay at the top of the Rankings isn't likely to be ended some time soon.

Not in the magical kind of form he is in right now.

As it is, with 11.60 average points, he is 2,91 points clear of Australia's World No 2 Adam Scott ((8.69) and 4.04 in front of Spaniard Sergia Garcia, the current World No 3.

Behind this trio come The US's highest ranked golfer, Jim Furyk at No 4, Swede Henrik Stenson at No 5, England's Justin Rose at No 6, American bomber Bubba Watson at No 7, Australian Jason Day at No 8 and the third and forth highest-ranked Americans, Matt Kuchar, and Rickie Fowler, at Nos 9 and 10.

And Tiger Woods?

For a long time a permanent fixture at the top of the Ranking list, the 38-year-old golfing icon's slide down the list goes on this week as injuries continue to bedevil his career. He is currently at No 17, six shots behind his old rival Phil Mickelson who has also been feeling the heat in an arena boiling over with a host of highly-skilled and ambitious young guns.

Along with McIlroy and Fowler, Billy Horschell, the 2014 FedEx Cup champion, is currently No 13 on the World Ranking list, and US whiz-kid Jordan Spieth, who, in his second year and barely 21, already stands proudly in the 14th spot on the World Rankings list. He can also claim to be one of the youngest golfers ever to have played in the Ryder Cup.

Among this week's tournament winners who made significant moves up the Rankings list are Bae Sang Moon and Alexander Levy.

Bae came in from the cold to win the US PGA Tour's season-opening Frys.com Open and along with picking up more than a million dollars in prize money, he soared from 195th to No 90 on the World Ranking list.

Levy claimed his second European Tour title at the rain-shortened Portugal Open to haul himself up from 110th to 74th in the World.

THE WEEK'S TOP 20

1 Rory McIlroy (NIr) 11.60
2 Adam Scott (Aus) 8.69
3 Sergio Garcia (Spa)7.55
4 Jim Furyk (USA) 7.43
5 Henrik Stenson (Swe)7.21
6 Justin Rose (Eng) 6.99
7 Bubba Watson (USA) 6.67
8 Jason Day (Aus) 6.62
9 Matt Kuchar (USA) 6.20
10 Rickie Fowler (USA) 5.72
11 Phil Mickelson (USA) 5.48
12 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 4.98
13 Billy Horschell (USA) 4.94
14 Jordan Spieth (USA) 4.89
15 Dustin Johnson (USA) 4.58
16 Zach Johnson (USA) 4.57
17 Tiger Woods (USA) 4.43
18 Graeme McDowell (Nir) 4.37
19 Hideki Matsuyama (Jap) 4.19
20 Hunter Mahan (USA) 4.15





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