Rory McIlroy makes world

top 50 - and a place in 2009

US Masters beckons

Belfast teenager Rory McIlroy has made it into the world's top 50 for the first time. If he is still there at the end of the year, then he will be rewarded with a place in the field for the 2009 US Masters.

Nineteen-year-old McIlroy, pictured right, a professional for only 14 months, suffered his second sudden-death loss of the year Sunday. He was beaten at the second extra hole by Taiwan's Lin Wen-tang in the UBS Hong Kong open.
McIlroy insisted he is not too downhearted after narrowly missing out on his first European Tour win following the play-off defeat.
He shot a final-round five-under-par 65 to enter a three-way play-off with Lin and Italian Francesco Molinari at the Hong Kong golf club.