Phil Mickelson not a top-50 golfer for first time since 1993

Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Phil Mickelson has dropped out of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time since 1993, following his 28th place finish at the 2019 WGC-HSBC Champions in China.

Mickelson dropped to No. 51 in the world after previously sitting at No. 50 last week. Shugo Imahira climbed from No. 53 to No. 50 after finishing second at a Japan Tour event.

Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and ranked as high as No. 17 earlier this year. He tied for 18th at the Masters before his ranking started to plummet. Mickelson first entered the top 50 at age 23 after finishing second at the 1993 Casio World Open.

He never reached the No. 1 world ranking, but his 1,353 consecutive weeks in the top 50 was the longest active streak. Rory McIlroy now has the longest top-50 streak -- 11 years.

McIlroy ranks No. 2 in the world, behind top-ranked Brooks Koepka. Dustin Johnson is No. 3, followed by Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay and Tiger Woods. Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau round out the top 10.

Mickelson, 49, missed the cut at the 2019 Safeway Open before finishing 61st at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open. He rounded out October with a 31st place finish at the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges before his 28th place finish Sunday at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.

"Lefty" had a hot start to his 2018-2019 campaign. He finished 17th at the Safeway Open before beating his longtime rival Woods in a one-on-one tournament. He followed that win with a second place finish at the Desert Classic before winning at Pebble Beach less than a month later.

Mickelson missed the cut at the 2019 British Open, tied for 52nd at the U.S. Open and tied for 71st at the PGA Championship, in addition to his 18th-place finish at the Masters.

Mickelson has 44 wins and more than $90.6 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour. Woods, 43, is coming off a win at the 2019 Zozo Championship on Oct. 28 in China. The 15-time major championship winner ranks No. 7 in the world.

Cantlay jumped Woods for No. 6. Cantlay had one win, two second-place finishes, two third-place finishes, nine top-10 finishes and 17 top-25 finishes in 2018-2019. Woods had one win, four top-10 finishes and seven top-24 finishes last season.

Rickie Fowler, who ended the year at No. 11, is now No. 21. Francesco Molinari is down from No. 7 in 2018-2019 to No. 12. Jordan Spieth was No. 17 at the end of last season and currently sits at No. 42.