2007 THE YEAR THAT ROSE BLOOMED
IN WORLD RANKINGS

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE:
Justin Rose’s outstanding season was reflected in his dramatic rise up the Official World Golf Ranking during this past year.
The European Tour Order of Merit winner moved up 45 places from 51st at the start of 2007 to be the highest placed European at the end of the year in sixth place.
In the process the Englishman emerged with the second highest net gain in World Ranking points over the course of 2007. His net gain of 168.51 points was surpassed only by American Steve Stricker, who enjoyed a gain of 173.99 points.
Indeed, Rose, with 301.55 points, was one of only five players to secure over 300 points during 2007, joining the elite company of Tiger Woods (689.90), Phil Mickelson (410.70), Ernie Els (351.06) and Vijay Singh (326.01).
In the final Official World Golf Ranking of the year, Woods finished as World No 1, his 476th week at the top, with Mickelson second, Jim Furyk third and Els the highest placed European Tour Member in fourth.
Rose’s phenomenal campaign, culminating in his victory in the Volvo Masters at Valderrrama and subsequent achievement of winning The European Tour Order of Merit for the first time, put him top of the list of 21 Englishmen in the top 200, an increase from 13 a decade ago.
The change in the world order was further reflected in the 64 Europeans placed within the top 200 in the Official World Golf Ranking, compared to 39 in 1997.
Finland’s Mikko Ilonen made the second highest climb of the year into the top 100 - 293 places, from 355th to 62nd - thanks to his victories in the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open and the Scandinavian Masters. American Anthony Kim made the greatest improvement from 533rd to 75th, a climb of 458 places.
The strength of The European Tour International Schedule was further underlined by the final Official World Golf Ranking of 2007 which revealed a sea change over the past decade with Europe and the Rest of the World challenging the United States for supremacy.
For the first ten years of the World Ranking, golfers from the United States led the way with more than half of the top 200, top 100 and top 50 made up of American golfers.
A decade on and the outlook is somewhat different. The last ten years has seen an increase of more than 50% in the number of European golfers in the top 200 and top 100, with similar growth among the Rest of the World.
In 1997 there were 39 Europeans in the top 200, compared to 103 Americans and 58 from the Rest of the World. The three regions are now evenly balanced with 64 Europeans, an increase of 25 in a decade, 67 Americans and 69 from the Rest of the World.
The top 100 shows a similar transformation from 19 Europeans to 30 in ten years, Rest of the World increasing from 23 to 36 with Americans occupying 34 places.