Even though neither of them played last week the gap between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson at the top of the world rankings has come down to just 0.2 points - the closest it has ever been between them.
Woods plays the third event of his comeback at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Bay Hill this week. If he fails to finish in the top two Mickelson, not in action again, would then have a chance to topple him at next week’s Houston Open.
Retief Goosen’s victory in the Transitions Championship lifts him from 39th to 22nd, while Argentina’s Estanislao Goya is up from 195th to 99th after winning the Madeira Islands Open.
There is an even bigger leap for runner-up Callum Macaulay, who birdied the last six holes and eight of the last nine. The Scot, who has been a professional for only four months, improves from 1,009th to 407th.
None of the Irish players in the top 100 were in action over the weekend and, consequently, remain more or less where they were last week. Padraig Harrington continues to lead the way in fifth place with Rory McIlroy the next best at 17th.
Latest leading positions:
1 Tiger Woods 8.86pts, 2 Phil Mickelson 8.66, 3 Sergio Garcia 7.53, 4 Geoff Ogilvy 6.36, 5 Padraig Harrington5.91, 6 Vijay Singh 5.86, 7 Camilo Villegas 4.94, 8 Robert Karlsson 4.88, 9 Henrik Stenson 4.87, 10 Kenny Perry 4.83.
11 Steve Stricker 4.37, 12 Paul Casey 4.34, 13 Jim Furyk 4.31, 14 Anthony Kim 4.28, 15 Lee Westwood 4.17, 16 Ernie Els 4.16, 17 Rory McIlroy3.93, 18 Stewart Cink 3.73, 19 Mike Weir 3.67, 20 Martin Kaymer 3.46.
Other leading Europeans:
24 Justin Rose, 26 Alvaro Quiros, 27 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 29 Luke Donald, 32 Ross Fisher, 34 Ian Poulter, 37 Oliver Wilson, 44 Graeme McDowell, 54 Soren Kjeldsen, 55 Peter Hanson, 57 Anders Hansen, 59 Soren Hansen, 71 Carl Pettersson, 76 Darren Clarke, 80 Anthony Wall, 82 Francesco Molinari, 83 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, 86 Alexander Noren, 87 Gareth Maybin, 92 Fredrik Jacobson.
