Golf:Pádraig Harrington's joint 16th place in the Pebble Beach Pro-am on the PGA Tour has taken the Dubliner back into an automatic spot in Europe's Ryder Cup standings.
Rory McIlroy and Harrington hold second and fourth place respectively from the world list and are currently the only two Irishmen automatically qualified for the Celtic Manor showdown in October.
Dustin Johnson’s successful defence of the Pebble Beach Pro-am title has lifted the American to 25th in the latest world rankings, a rise of 19 places.
Rory McIlroy dropped one place to eighth in the standings but remains the highest ranked Irishman, one ahead of Harrington.
Graeme McDowell (47th), Irish Open champion Shane Lowry (88th) and Darren Clarke (99th), who finished tied eighth at the Avantha Masters in New Delhi, are inside the world’s top 100.
Australia’s Andrew Dodt, who won the inaugural Avantha Masters at the DLF Golf and Country Club, climbed to 110th in the latest standings, an improvement of 85 positions.
Latest leading positions in the European Ryder Cup table (top four on world list qualify, then next five on European points list. Captain Colin Montgomerie adds three wild cards):
World Points
1 LEE WESTWOOD 196.9
2 RORY McILROY 142.7
3 IAN POULTER 111.5
4 PADRAIG HARRINGTON 106.5
5 Martin Kaymer 104.9
6 Edoardo Molinari 95.7
7 Ross McGowan 86.3
8 Simon Dyson 82.5
9 Robert Karlsson 76.7
10 Miguel Angel Jimenez 76.5
European points
1 Lee Westwood 1,920,576
2 Rory McIlroy 1,335,904
3 ROSS McGOWAN 1,104,767
4 Ian Poulter 927,415
5 SIMON DYSON 893,738
6 ALEXANDER NOREN 771,353
7 MARTIN KAYMER 728,852
8 ROSS FISHER 672,419
9 Francesco Molinari 658,554
10 Oliver Wilson 625,400
(Capitals denote players in qualifying positions)
Latest World Rankings:
1 Tiger Woods 12.85pts
2 Steve Stricker 7.99
3 Phil Mickelson 7.64
4 Lee Westwood 7.06
5 Jim Furyk 5.35
6 Martin Kaymer 5.29
7 Paul Casey 5.14
8 Rory McIlroy 5.08
9 Pádraig Harrington 5.00
10 Henrik Stenson 4.95
11 Ian Poulter 4.91
12 Geoff Ogilvy 4.88
13 Kenny Perry 4.50
14 Robert Allenby 4.22
15 Sergio Garcia 4.08
16 Sean O'Hair 4.05
17 Ernie Els 3.94
18 Ross Fisher 3.91
19 Robert Karlsson 3.91
20 Retief Goosen 3.87
Selected others:
47 Graeme McDowell
88 Shane Lowry
99 Darren Clarke