24 Weeks in pole position come to an end for Aberdonian

RAMSAY LOSES WORLD NO 1
RANKING TO 17-year-old

BELFAST BOY McILORY
US amateur championship title-holder Richie Ramsay (Royal Aberdeen) has finally been knocked off his pedestal after 24 weeks at No 1 in the R&A world amateur rankings.
The 23-year-old Stirling University student from Aberdeen has paid a high price for retiring with a painful hip after 14 holes of the second round of the prestigious Jones Cup Invitational at Sea Island, Georgia.
The new world No 1 is Rory McIlroy, pictured right, from the Holywood club near Belfast.

The youngster finished a very creditable three-under-par for the 72 holes, gaining a share of 52nd place in the European Tour's Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday.

McIlroy, Irish amateur champion in 2005 and 2006, won the European individual amateur title in Milan last year. He turned down umpteen offers from American colleges because he wants to turn professional sooner rather than later, i.e. after the Walker Cup match on home turf (Royal County Down) on September 8 and 9, taking it for granted, of course, that he will be a member of the GB&I team to play the United States.
Former British boys' champion Pablo Martin from Spain, a student at Oklahoma State University - he did not play in the Jones Cup Invitational - moves up from fourth to second in the world rankings.
Ramsay is No 3 and England's Jamie Moul drops from No 4 to No 2.

One of the biggest "climbers" is Carnoustie's Keir McNicoll who finished joint 19th in the Jones Cup Invitational. He moves up the rankings from 103rd to 81st position.

Other Scots in the top 100 are:
40 Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) (down 3).
53 (equal) Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) (down 8).
64 Callum Macaulay (Tulliallan & Mississippi Univ) (same).
66 John Gallagher (Swanston) (down 3).
77 Duncan Stewart (Grantown-on-Spey & Jacksonville Univ) (down 2).
81 Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) (up 22).
97 Jonathan King (Glasgow) (down 5).

The new top 20 are:
1 R McIlroy (Ire), 2 P Martin (Spa), 3 R Ramsay (Sco), 4 J Moul (Eng), 5 Kyung Tae Kim (Kor), 6 C Kirk (US), 7 R Davies (Wal), 8 B Horschel (US), 9 W Simpson (US), 10 N Edwards (Wal).
11 G Wolstenholme (Eng), 12 B LaCassie (Aus), 13 J Moore (US), 14 S Benson (Eng), 15 J Guerrier (Fra), 16 G Coetzee (SAf), 17 G Woodland (US), 18 J Carlsson (Swe), 19 N Lemke (Swe), 20 D Johnson (US).

++To see all the R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings, log on to http://www.wagr.randa.org/

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