McIlroy climbs into top 10

McIlroy: into world's top 10

Also see

• EuroTour Schedule
• World Rankings
• Golf live on Sky Sports

Rory McIlroy still had something to celebrate on Sunday evening despite missing out on the inaugural 'Race to Dubai' crown and the prized spot of European number one.

The Northern Irish starlet has joined Sergio Garcia as the only other 20-year-old to ever make the world's top 10.

It had initially been projected that McIlroy's third-place finish at the Dubai World Championship would not be enough to lift him into the top 10, but it proved just enough to see him past Jim Furyk and into the elite group.

Lee Westwood, whose six-stroke victory denied McIlroy the Race to Dubai title, is back up to his career-high position of fourth in the world.

McIlroy's achievement eclipses even that of Tiger Woods who was 21 when he first entered the world's top 10 in 1997.

Latest rankings:

1 Tiger Woods 15.93pts, 2 Phil Mickelson 8.95, 3 Steve Stricker 7.20, 4 Lee Westwood 6.82, 5 Paul Casey 5.82, 6 Padraig Harrington 5.82, 7 Henrik Stenson 5.48, 8 Sergio Garcia 5.18, 9 Kenny Perry 5.17, 10 Rory McIlroy 5.12, 11 Jim Furyk 5.08, 12 Martin Kaymer 4.89, 13 Ian Poulter 4.83, 14 Geoff Ogilvy 4.78, 15 Sean O'Hair 4.46, 16 Stewart Cink 4.44, 17 Ernie Els 4.28, 18 Lucas Glover 4.09, 19 Retief Goosen 4.05, 20 Ross Fisher 4.02

Other leading Europeans:

25 Robert Karlsson, 28 Luke Donald, 33 Soren Kjeldsen, 37 Francesco Molinari, 40 Oliver Wilson, 42 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 44 Soren Hansen, 45 Simon Dyson, 46 Alvaro Quiros, 47 Anders Hansen, 49 Peter Hanson, 51 Graeme McDowell, 53 Alexander Noren, 60 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, 63 Edoardo Molinari, 68 Justin Rose, 70 Ross McGowan, 71 Chris Wood, 81 Anthony Wall, 88 Gregory Bourdy, 98 Thomas Levet