Harrington eyes world No. 2 ranking

VIRGINIA WATER, England, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- No. 3-ranked Padraig Harrington cut deeply into the advantage that second-rated Phil Mickelson has over the Irish golfer in the world's men's rankings.

Harrington on Sunday won his second major tournament in four weeks, taking the PGA Championship by two strokes over Sergio Garcia and Ben Curtis.

While Tiger Woods, still out with a knee injury, is solidly ensconced at No. 1, Mickelson's hold on the second spot had been sliced by Harrington. It's still more than 2 average rating points, but Harrington has been on a tear of late with the British Open and PGA titles. Mickelson's hold on No. 2 was more than 4 points before the British Open.

Garcia went from sixth to fourth in the rankings released Monday. Curtis's strong showing jumped up 40 spots in the rankings to No. 37 and earned him a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Vijay Singh was knocked from fourth to fifth by Garcia while the No. 6 spot was taken by Henrik Stenson, who was 11th last week. Ernie Els fell from fifth to seventh and Stewart Cink improved from ninth to eighth. Geoff Ogilvy, seventh last week, is ninth while Steve Strickler remained 10th.