Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Brooks Koepka rallied to win for the
first time on the PGA Tour on Sunday, and that victory helped him enter the
top 20 in the world rankings.
Koepka climbed 14 spots to No. 19 thanks to his win at the Phoenix Open.
Rory McIlroy won the Dubai Desert Open for the second time and he stretched
his lead atop the world rankings from 3.36 average points to 4.04 average
points.
Henrik Stenson remained the second-ranked player in the world. Bubba Watson
shared second place at the Phoenix Open for the second straight year and he
improved to No. 3 this week. That pushed Adam Scott down a spot to fourth.
Justin Rose held steady at No. 5 and he was again followed by Sergio Garcia,
Jim Furyk, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Matt Kuchar.
Martin Kaymer inched up one to 11th and that bumped Rickie Fowler down a spot
to No. 12, while Jimmy Walker stayed put at 13. Hideki Matsuyama, who shared
second place with Watson and Ryan Palmer, jumped four to No. 14 and Victor
Dubuisson climbed a notch to 15th.
Patrick Reed dipped one to 16, Billy Horschel fell three to 17 and Phil
Mickelson slipped a spot to 18th. Koepka moved into the 19th position and
Graeme McDowell was down one to 20th.
Chris Kirk tumbled out of the top 20 as he dropped two places to 22nd.
Tiger Woods, who missed the cut badly in Phoenix, tumbled nine spots to No. 56
and is in jeopardy of not qualifying for the first World Golf Championship of
the season in four weeks at Doral.
