World Golf Rankings:Michael Hoey has climbed 125 places in the latest world rankings after securing his European Tour title yesterday. Hoey, a winner at the Portuguese Open yesterday, moved to 148th when the standings were released this morning.
Five behind and down in a tie for 19th with 18 holes to go at Oitavos Dunes Hoey charged through the field with a joint best-of-the-day 66.
He then had a long wait to see if his seven under par total was good enough, but of the 18 players who started the day ahead of him only Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano could match him.
That meant a play-off and Hoey, then ranked 273rd in the world against his opponent’s 84th, won it at the third extra hole to claim the first prize.
Paul Casey, meanwhile, goes into The Masters this week at a career-high sixth in the world after his play-off victory at the Houston Open. Casey, who beat American JB Holmes at the first extra hole for his first US Tour success, moves up six places.
He began the year 41st and without a win for almost two years, but so far in 2009 has lifted titles in Abu Dhabi and the United States and reached the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play in Arizona.
Tiger Woods retains the number one spot for a 200th successive week, making it a total of 542 weeks in his career.
Latest leading positions:
1 Tiger Woods 9.83pts, 2 Phil Mickelson 8.37, 3 Sergio Garcia 7.28, 4 Geoff Ogilvy 6.43, 5 Padraig Harrington 5.86, 6 Paul Casey 5.55, 7 Vijay Singh 5.52, 8 Henrik Stenson 5.12, 9 Robert Karlsson 4.94, 10 Camilo Villegas 4.84
11 Kenny Perry 4.79, 12 Steve Stricker 4.29, 13 Lee Westwood 4.23, 14 Anthony Kim 4.20, 15 Jim Furyk 4.13, 16 Ernie Els 4.09, 17 Rory McIlroy 3.96, 18 Stewart Cink 3.63, 19 Mike Weir 3.59, 20 Martin Kaymer 3.40
Other leading Europeans:
25 Justin Rose, 27 Alvaro Quiros, 30 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 33 Ross Fisher, 34 Luke Donald, 38 Ian Poulter, 39 Oliver Wilson, 41 Soren Kjeldsen, 45 Graeme McDowell, 57 Peter Hanson, 58 Anders Hansen, 61 Soren Hansen, 67 Francesco Molinari, 72 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, 78 Carl Pettersson, 81 Darren Clarke, 84 Anthony Wall, 86 Alexander Noren, 92 Gareth Maybin.
