Casey plays his way into US Open reckoning

Paul Casey's runner-up finish in the Nissan Irish Open has lifted him back into the world's top 50 just a week before the cut…

Paul Casey's runner-up finish in the Nissan Irish Open has lifted him back into the world's top 50 just a week before the cut-off point for next month's US Open at Winged Foot.

Casey goes to 42nd in the new rankings, while winner Thomas Bjorn moves from 33rd to 30th.

Darren Clarke, who finished third at Carton House, remains the leading Irishman in the standings, moving up one place to 19th. Padraig Harrington (29th) and Paul McGinley (36th) are the only other Irish players in the top 50 with Graeme McDowell falling five places to 91st.

Lee Westwood and Paul Broadhurst, 52nd and 55th respectively, will try to claim a place in the top 50 at this week's BMW Championship at Wentworth. Should they miss out, they face a 36-hole qualifier for the US Open at Walton Heath in Surrey in two weeks' time.

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American Tim Herron beat Swede Richard Johnson in a play-off for the US PGA Tour's Bank of America Colonial tournament. Herron leaps from 60th to 33rd and Johnson from 174th to 94th.


Latest leading places in the world rankings (Irish in bold):

1 Tiger Woods 17.36pts, 2 Phil Mickelson 9.38, 3 Retief Goosen 8.16, 4 Vijay Singh 7.59, 5 Jim Furyk 6.54, 6 Ernie Els 6.05, 7 Sergio Garcia 5.78, 8 David Toms 5.28, 9 Adam Scott 5.17, 10 Luke Donald 4.63, 11 Jose Maria Olazabal 4.36, 12 Chad Campbell 4.22, 13 Henrik Stenson 4.19, 14 Tim Clark 4.06, 15 Geoff Ogilvy 4.05, 16 Chris DiMarco 4.03, 17 David Howell 3.95, 18 Stuart Appleby 3.95, 19 Darren Clarke 3.92, 20 Davis Love 3.79.

Other leading Europeans:

23 Colin Montgomerie, 29 Padraig Harrington, 30 Thomas Bjorn, 36 Paul McGinley, 42 Paul Casey, 49 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 50 Niclas Fasth, 51 Carl Pettersson, 52 Lee Westwood, 55 Paul Broadhurst, 58 Greg Owen, 65 Nick Dougherty, 67 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, 72 Ian Poulter, 74 Jesper Parnevik, 77 Bernhard Langer, 82 Johan Edfors, 86 Bradley Dredge, 90 David Lynn, 91 Graeme McDowell, 93 Fredrik Jacobson, 94 Richard Johnson, 97 Anders Hansen.