Golf:There are now more Europeans than Americans in the world's top 20 after tournament victories for Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher took them to 15th and 17th respectively - both personal bests.
The top 10 is evenly split with five of each, but in Martin Kaymer, Poulter, Fisher and Holywood's Rory McIlroy, Europe has four golfers between 11 and 20, compared to America’s three.
The top three, however, still hail from the US.
Tiger Woods leads the way, from Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker, but five of the next seven are from Europe – including Ireland’s Pádraig Harrington, England’s Paul Casey and Lee Westwood, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson and Spaniard Sergio Garcia.
Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy is 14th, while Colombian Camilo Villegas and Fijian Vijay Singh are 19th and 20th respectively.
Aside from Harrington and McIlroy, Graeme McDowell is the only other Irish player inside the top 50 at 48th. The Portrush pro had a great chance to secure the Singapore Open at the weekend but slipped back in the final round to eventually finish tied fifth.
Latest World Rankings
1 Tiger Woods 15.60pts
2 Phil Mickelson 7.86
3 Steve Stricker 7.46
4 Paul Casey 6.12
5 Lee Westwood 6.00
6 Pádraig Harrington 5.73
7 Henrik Stenson 5.68
8 Kenny Perry 5.45
9 Sergio Garcia 5.33
10 Jim Furyk 5.30
11 Martin Kaymer 5.04
12 Stewart Cink 4.77
13 Sean O'Hair 4.76
14 Geoff Ogilvy 4.76
15 Ian Poulter 4.73
16 Lucas Glover 4.25
17 Ross Fisher 4.18
18 Rory McIlroy 4.14
19 Camilo Villegas 4.08
20 Vijay Singh 4.07
Selected other Europeans:
27 Robert Karlsson
28 Luke Donald
33 Soren Kjeldsen
37 Oliver Wilson
42 Soren Hansen
43 Miguel Angel Jimenez
45 Francesco Molinari
46 Anders Hansen
47 Simon Dyson
48 Graeme McDowell
51 Alvaro Quiros
52 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano
53 Peter Hanson
63 Justin Rose
65 Alexander Noren
69 Chris Wood
79 Anthony Wall
84 Edoardo Molinari
89 Thomas Levet
95 Nick Dougherty
100 Fredrik Jacobson
