David Duval finally captured a major championship on Sunday, winning the British
Open by three shots. The victory, his first since the Buick Challenge last year,
jumped him four spots to No. 3 in the latest World Golf Rankings.
Tiger Woods may have failed to make
a run at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, but he still remains comfortably on top in
the rankings. Woods finished tied for 25th at the British Open, his worst showing
in a major since a joint 29th at the 1997 PGA Championship.
Phil Mickelson failed to pose a threat
at the British Open but remained in second place.
Duval is the only other player besides
Woods to occupy the top spot in the World Golf Rankings in the last three years.
His third-place ranking meant that two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els, who
tied for third at Royal Lytham, fell one to fourth.
Vijay Singh, Davis Love III and Sergio Garcia each dropped one notch to fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
Darren Clarke also shared third at the
Open and he moved up one to No. 8, switching places with his good friend, Lee Westwood.
Colin Montgomerie looked poised to shake
the tag of being one of the best players never to win a major championship. He
held the lead after the first and second rounds but never made a move on the weekend
when others were passing him by.
Monty did return to the top-10 after
a one-week absence as he came in at No. 10.
Mike Weir held on to his 11th-place
ranking of a week ago, followed by Hal Sutton, who climbed one spot to 12th, despite
missing the British Open with back problems.
Thomas Bjorn missed the cut at the season's
third major and fell three to 13th.
Michael Campbell and Padraig Harrington switched places from a week ago, with Campbell moving to 14th and the Irishman
dropping to 15.
Jim Furyk rose one to 16 despite failing
to qualify for the weekend at the British Open, while Retief Goosen jumped two
places to 17.
High finishes by Jesper Parnevik and
Nick Price brought the veterans back into the top-20 this week. The colorful Swede
came in 18th while the former British Open champion was ranked 19th.
Tom Lehman, who won the last British
Open at Royal Lytham in 1996, missed the cut in this year's edition and dipped
four to No. 20.
Scott Hoch and David Toms both fell
out of the top-20 after both players missed the cut on Friday.
