World Rankings: Graeme McDowell has leaped 30 places up to 29th in the latest world rankings after his impressive two-stroke victory in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond yesterday.
The 28-year-old kept his composure on the final day to card a closing 68 for a 13-under 271 winning aggregate, two ahead of South Africa's James Kingston in second.
After winning the inaugural Ballentine's Championship in Korea in April, the Portush pro also made it his first multiple win season after collecting the €631,044 top prize at Loch Lomond. His maiden win came at the 2002 Scandinavian Masters and two years later he secured the 2004 Italian Open.
McDowell moved to second on the European Tour Order of Merit with earnings of €1,533,646 from 19 events and is second only to Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez who leads with €1,704,720 from 17 events.
Now that McDowell heads into this week's British Open at Royal Birkdale with a buoyant spring in his step, he will also finally allow himself to get measured up for a Ryder Cup uniform.
"I put the Ryder Cup up there with winning majors," said McDowell, who climbs from 10th to sixth in the European Ryder Cup standings. "It's something I have really, really desperately wanted.
"I refused to be measured for my Ryder Cup clothes last week but maybe I will accept next time. It's never over until it's over of course but this is a massive step in the right direction. It will be a dream come true."
On the banks of Loch Lomond yesterday, McDowell found himself tied for the lead with England's Simon Khan going into the final round.
When Khan ran up double bogey at the 12th McDowell seized the initiative with three birdies from the 13th before standing on the 18th tee with a two-shot cushion.
"This is just unbelievable," McDowell said after the round. "It really was a tough weekend's golf with such a stacked field. It's a massive relief. It's one of the toughest finishes in European golf and I don't think I've ever shaken as much as I was coming down the stretch.
"I've never had a two-shot lead coming down the last hole and I much prefer it to the stress and drama I normally put my mum (Marian) and dad (Kenny) through and it's great to have them here.
"My dad first put a club in my hand aged seven and he's been with me for 20 years, through thick and thin. He just retired last Friday. This is my retirement present to him."
Current leading places in the world rankings:
1 Tiger Woods 19.92pts
2 Phil Mickelson 9.70
3 Geoff Ogilvy 5.49
4 Adam Scott 5.47
5 Ernie Els 5.41
6 Stewart Cink 5.41
7 Sergio Garcia 5.40
8 Steve Stricker 5.14
9 Justin Rose 5.04
10 Vijay Singh 4.85
11 KJ Choi 4.80
12 Jim Furyk 4.75
13 Anthony Kim 4.69
14 Pádraig Harrington 4.62
15 Trevor Immelman 4.45
16 Kenny Perry 4.36
17 Henrik Stenson 4.34
18 Rory Sabbatini 4.34
19 Lee Westwood 4.31
20 Miguel Angel Jimenez 4.01
Other Irish Standings:
29 Graeme McDowell
106 Darren Clarke
121 Paul McGinley
158 Rory McIlroy
159 Peter Lawrie
170 Damien McGrane
294 Gary Murphy
-additional reporting PA
