McIlroy makes top 50 debut
Nineteen-year-old Rory McIlroy has still made it into the world’s top 50 for the first time despite his play-off defeat in the Hong Kong Open today.
McIlroy, a professional for only 14 months, suffered his second sudden death loss of the year, being beaten at the second extra hole by Taiwan’s Lin Wen-tang.
The pair are now 50th and 51st on the rankings, separated by only 0.01pts, but if McIlroy, up 13 places from last week, remains in the top 50 at the end of next month he will earn himself a debut in The Masters at Augusta next April.
Latest leading positions:
1 Tiger Woods 13.48pts, 2 Sergio Garcia 8.48, 3 Phil Mickelson 7.79, 4 Padraig Harrington 7.39, 5 Vijay Singh 7.31, 6 Robert Karlsson 5.21, 7 Camilo Villegas 5.20, 8 Ernie Els 4.88, 9 Anthony Kim 4.78, 10 Lee Westwood 4.76
11 Jim Furyk 4.67, 12 Henrik Stenson 4.61, 13 Steve Stricker 4.35, 14 Geoff Ogilvy 4.27, 15 Stewart Cink 4.24, 16 KJ Choi 4.16, 17 Adam Scott 4.15, 18 Justin Rose 4.09, 19 Kenny Perry 3.84, 20 Miguel Angel Jimenez 3.66
Other leading Europeans:
24 Ian Poulter, 26 Martin Kaymer, 27 Luke Donald, 31 Graeme McDowell, 33 Ross Fisher, 37 Paul Casey, 41 Oliver Wilson, 44 Soren Hansen, 48 Soren Kjeldsen, 50 Rory McIlroy, 52 Peter Hanson, 57 Carl Pettersson, 61 Fredrik Jacobson, 64 Darren Clarke, 73 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, 74 Nick Dougherty, 79 Francesco Molinari, 82 Anders Hansen, 83 Alvaro Quiros, 84 Peter Hedblom, 95 Niclas Fasth, 100 Paul McGinley.
