McIlroy, Donald inch up in golf rankings

VIRGINIA WATER, England, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald made one-spot improvements Monday in the world men's golf rankings.

McIlroy, who slipped to a 10th-place finish at the Dubai Desert Classic after leading the first three rounds, went from eighth to seventh in the rankings while Donald took over the No. 9 spot.

Those moves knocked Steve Stricker into eighth and Jim Furyk into 10th. They marked the only changes in golf's Top 10.

The tournament in Dubai marked the first time the world Top 3 golfers played in the same group, with No. 1 Lee Westwood (8.411 average rankings points), second-ranked Martin Kaymer (7.899) and Tiger Woods (6.779) playing together Thursday and Friday.

Westwood had the best finish, ending up tied for 15th and six strokes behind winner Alvaro Quiros. Woods was another stroke back in a tie for 20th and Kaymer was tied for 31st, nine strokes back of Quiros.

Phil Mickelson (tied for ninth at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am) is still in fourth place (6.392), with Graeme McDowell (6.390) a very close fifth. Paul Casey (6.128) is sixth. McIlroy has an average of 5.846 while Sticker is at 5.781, Donald at 5.448 and Furyk at 5.418.