GOLF: McIlroy drops out of top ten
RORY McIlroy has been knocked out of the world's top 10 following his dismal showing at the WGC-CA Championship.
The 20-year-old Northern Irishman, ninth on the rankings entering the event, finished joint 65th of the 68 players.
He drops to 11th on the new list after being overtaken by Doral winner Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington, who came joint third.
In contrast, Graeme McDowell has moved up to 41st in the world after his superb finish to the event in Doral.
The Portrush native carded a brilliant six under par round of 66 to finish sixth.
"It's great to finally get a top 10 under my belt, as I felt I have been playing well enough recently to deserve some good results," said McDowell on his website.
"I'm very happy with how my week turned out. Although I began well with three early birdies on Thursday, I finished poorly and lefy myself with a lot of work do over the remaining three rounds. But to bounce back in the way I did was very satisfying."
As a result of his stromg finish, McDowell has made it into the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill on Thursday week.
McDowell finished tied second with Vijay Singh in Palmer's prestigious tournament in 2005 and views the tournament as a vital part of build-up to the US Masters.
"I knew that I was under pressure to fall out of the top-50 after this week. I needed a big performance and thankfully I gave one," he said.
"If I didnt get into Bay Hill then this would likely have been my last PGA Tour event before the US Masters (Graeme also plays the team event Tavistock Cup the Monday and Tuesday of Bay Hill). Obviously that would not have been ideal, but now I am perfectly set up to be well prepared for Augusta.
"Mr Palmers invitational event is a huge tournament, and I am really looking forward to it now. I have done well in this event in the past, so hopefully I can get another good result in."
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Monday 13 February 2012
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