Eurosport - Tue, 23 Jun 11:11:00 2009
There were huge rises in golf's world rankings for the trio of lowly-ranked players who shot themselves into the limelight during the US Open at Bethpage Black.
Eventual champion Lucas Glover enjoyed a jump of over 50 places as he climbed from 71st to 18th, a move which puts him just ahead of Ernie Els and Lee Westwood in the game's global pecking order.
But impressive as Glover's rise up the charts was, the tournament's nearly-man Ricky Barnes rose even more sharply as he climbed from 519th in the world to 153rd - an impressive leap, but one that still leaves the Tour rookie well outside the all-important top-50, which opens almost every tournament door in world golf.
Yet even Barnes's rise pales into insignificance compared to David Duval.
Duval's story is quite amazing. A former world number one who once shot a stupendous final-round 59 to win the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Duval challenged for several Majors before winning the Open at Lytham in 2001.
But then, it all went wrong: sharing the fate of many Major champions, once he had climbed to the top he began not to revel in his quality play but rather to question the technique which had got him there.
The result was years of struggling, mentally and physically, in a fruitless search to get back to playing decent golf.
Duval climbed an astonishing 740 places in the world rankings with his second-place finish - and if his gutsy performance is any guide, we'll soon be seeing him back where he belongs, up among golf's elite.
World rankings after the US Open (US unless stated, last week's position in brackets):
1. (1) Tiger Woods 10.51 average points
2. (2) Phil Mickelson 8.59
3. (3) Paul Casey (England) 6.96
4. (4) Sergio Garcia (Spain) 6.40
5. (6) Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 6.13
6. (5) Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 6.03
7. (7) Kenny Perry 5.54
8. (8) Steve Stricker 5.43
9. (9) Vijay Singh (Fiji) 5.11
10. (10) Jim Furyk 4.95
11. (11) Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 4.75
12. (12) Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 4.67
13. (13) Sean O'Hair 4.45
14. (14) Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 4.35
15. (15) Anthony Kim 3.96
16. (18) Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) 3.81
17. (17) Ian Poulter (England) 3.81
18. (71) Lucas Glover 3.71
19. (16) Ernie Els (South Africa) 3.65
20. (19) Lee Westwood (England) 3.62
European Tour Race to Dubai (English unless stated):
1. Paul Casey 1,949,841 euros
2. Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 1,484,198
3. Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) 1,285,587
4. Ross Fisher 1,262,040
5. Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 1,057,014
6. Sergio Garcia (Spain) 1,018,028
7. Oliver Wilson 957,695
8. Robert Rock 805,856
9. Alvaro Quiros (Spain) 801,791
10. Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) 725,239
US Tour money list (US unless stated):
1. Phil Mickelson $3,810,561
2. Tiger Woods $3,480,163
3. Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) $3,346,454
4. Zach Johnson $3,305,441
5. Steve Stricker $3,193,458
6. Sean O'Hair $3,123,964
7. Kenny Perry $2,812,241
8. Brian Gay $2,740,535
9. Lucas Glover $2,646,053
10. Nick Watney $2,587,386
FedExCup points (US unless stated):
1. Phil Mickelson 1,616 points
2. Zach Johnson 1,609
3. Tiger Woods 1,551
4. Steve Stricker 1,543
5. Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 1,533
6. Brian Gay 1,468
7. Sean O'Hair 1,434
8. Kenny Perry 1,374
9. Lucas Glover 1,356
10. Nick Watney 1,289
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