McDowell returns to men's golf Top 10

VIRGINIA WATER, England, April 22 (UPI) -- Graeme McDowell's playoff victory at the RBC Heritage in South Carolina allowed him to return to the Top 10 in the men's world golf rankings.

McDowell defeated Webb Simpson with a par on the first playoff hole Sunday in winning his second PGA title. The other was the U.S. Open in 2010. He also has seven championships on the European Tour but Sunday's title at the RBC Heritage was his first since October 2010.

The win lifts him 10 spots in the rankings to No. 8. Simpson moves to 18th and Luke Donald, who tied with Kevin Streelman (up 22 places to 59th) for third, goes from sixth to fifth in the rankings.

In all, half of the Top 10 changed this week, although the leading four players are the same.

Tiger Woods is No. 1 with a rankings points average of 12.06 and Rory McIlroy (10.91) is second. Adam Scott, a week removed from his win at the Masters, is third with an average of 8.01 and Justin Rose, at 6.81, comes in fourth.

Donald, whose average is 6.64, moves close to Rose for fifth while Brandt Snedeker, down one place this week, has an average of 6.38. Louis Oosthuizen (5.79) is still seventh but McDowell's average of 5.57 is eighth-best while Steve Stricker (5.54) is ninth and Matt Kuchar (5.33) is 10th.

McDowell's jump forces Phil Mickelson (5.16) from the Top 10.

Raphael Jacquelin collected the European Tour's Spanish Open, edging Max Kieffer on the ninth hole of a sudden-death playoff. Jacquelin goes from 146th to 94th in the rankings with the win, his fourth on the European Tour.