JIM FURYK SQUEEZES INTO MASTERS FIELD AS WORLD No. 50

FROM THE SKY SPORTS.COM WEBSITE
Jim Furyk secured a 17th consecutive appearance at the Masters next year after finishing the year in the top 50 of the world rankings.
The American scraped into the field in 50th place, edging out Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa who must try to qualify by other means.

South African Ernie Els is another player still to 'win' an invitation after slipping outside the top-50 for the first time since 1993, standing three places behind countryman Retief Goosen.
Els has played in every Masters since 1994.
The two-time US Open champions can still clinch a trip to Augusta by winning a US PGA event not staged opposite a World Golf Championships tournament in the first three months of 2012, or breaking back into the top 50 after the Arnold Palmer Invitational, staged two weeks before the Masters.



TOP 20 WORLD PRO RANKINGS AT THE END OF THE 2012 GOLF YEAR

You can measure how much a player has improved or deteriorated by comparing his 2011 final placing with the figures in brackets which were their final 2010 positions

1 (9) Luke Donald (Eng) 10.03

2 (1) Lee Westwood (Eng) 8.06

3 (10) Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 7.77

4 (3) Martin Kaymer (Ger) 6.55

5 (24) Adam Scott (Aus) 5.50

6 (7) Steve Stricker (USA) 5.33

7 (14) Dustin Johnson (USA) 5.27

8 (38) Jason Day (Aus) 5.07

9 (34) Charl Schwartzel (SA) 5.06

10 (213) Webb Simpson (USA) 5.03

11 (13) Matt Kuchar (USA) 4.71

12 (35) Nick Watney (USA) 4.70

13 (6) Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 4.55

14 (4) Phil Mickelson (USA) 4.48

15 (47) KJ Choi (Kor) 4.31

16 (11) Ian Poulter (Eng) 3.88

17 (78) Sergio Garcia (Spa) 3.87

18 (30) Justin Rose (Eng) 3.85

19 (19) Hunter Mahan (USA) 3.76

20 (8) Paul Casey (Eng) 3.73