Rory rises to new high

McIlroy: up to ninth in the world

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Rory McIlroy has climbed into a higher position in the world rankings than any 20-year-old before him despite not playing this week.

The Northern Irish youngster did not feature at the Alfred Dunhill Championship over the weekend - the first event of the 2010 Race to Dubai - and was also forced to pull out of the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City two weeks ago because of a virus.

But his inactivity has not prevented him from rising from number 11 to number nine in the rankings.

Tiger Woods holds a 6.66 point lead over Phil Mickelson some three days after announcing he is to take an "indefinite break" from golf to tackle his personal problems.

When he started his eight-month lay-off following reconstructive knee surgery last year the American's lead was over 11 points.

While Sergio Garcia got close, he was never caught then, but it could prove a different story if his new hiatus proves another lengthy one.

Latest world rankings:
1 Tiger Woods 15.20pts, 2 Phil Mickelson 8.54, 3 Steve Stricker 6.89, 4 Lee Westwood 6.76, 5 Padraig Harrington 5.75, 6 Jim Furyk 5.70, 7 Paul Casey 5.55, 8 Henrik Stenson 5.54, 9 Rory McIlroy 4.97, 10 Kenny Perry 4.91, 11 Sergio Garcia 4.88, 12 Ian Poulter 4.75, 13 Martin Kaymer 4.64, 14 Geoff Ogilvy 4.63, 15 Stewart Cink 4.38, 16 Sean O'Hair 4.36, 17 Ernie Els 4.27, 18 Ross Fisher 4.14, 19 Retief Goosen 4.06, 20 Lucas Glover 3.95

Other leading Europeans:
27 Robert Karlsson, 28 Luke Donald, 35 Soren Kjeldsen, 38 Graeme McDowell, 39 Oliver Wilson, 40 Francesco Molinari, 43 Simon Dyson, 46 Anders Hansen, 47 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 48 Soren Hansen, 50 Alvaro Quiros, 53 Peter Hanson, 54 Alexander Noren, 55 Edoardo Molinari, 63 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, 67 Ross McGowan, 70 Justin Rose, 72 Chris Wood, 82 Anthony Wall, 88 Gregory Bourdy