Golf: Paul Lawrie still well placed for Masters

PAUL Lawrie’s place in The Masters should be safe after he stayed in the same position – 45th – in the world rankings despite illness preventing him from defending the Andalucian Open title last week.

As the former Open champion stayed at home in Aberdeen to recover from acute bronchitis, which he picked up during his recent trip to Miami, neither the event in Spain or the Transitions Championship in Florida affected his hopes of making a first appearance at Augusta National since 2004.

Matteo Manassero, runner-up to surprise Andalucian Open winner Julien Quesne, only moved up two spots in the rankings to 61st, while South African duo Retief Goosen and Ernie Els both squandered good chances in the PGA Tour event in their bids to climb into the top 50.

Goosen, who led with a round to play at Innisbrook and needed a top-10 finish to get back into the world’s elite, dropped to 20th with a 75 and slips a place on the rankings to 53rd, ending the two-time US Open champion’s chances of playing at the Masters because he is having back treatment over the next two weeks.

Els, twice a runner-up in the Masters, still has two throws of the dice left but left himself with a mountain to climb afer missing a four-foot putt on the final green on Sunday. It cost him a place in a play-off and, after leading with two holes to play, the South African eventually finished in a tie for fifth to move up only six spots to 62nd in the rankings.

“It’s going to be tough,” said the former world No 1, who now needs to win either the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill starting on Thursday or next week’s Houston Open to be at Augusta.

The top 50 at the end of this week earn invitations, meaning Lawrie, who started hitting balls again on Friday after being prescribed with antibiotics, will be keeping a close eye on both the Bay Hill event and also the Hassan Trophy in Morocco.

“I’m glad I decided not to go to Spain as I was really struggling last week,” he said. “I managed to hit a few chip shots on Friday afternoon, but I’ve been taking it easy as I’m still not 100 per cent.”

Leading world rankings: 1 Luke Donald 10.03pts, 2 Rory McIlroy 9.85, 3 Lee Westwood 8.16, 4 Martin Kaymer 5.87, 5 Steve Stricker 5.81, 6 Charl Schwartzel 5.25, 7 Webb Simpson 5.13, 8 Justin Rose 5.11, 9 Adam Scott 4.94, 10 Jason Day 4.93 11 Dustin Johnson 4.90, 12 Hunter Mahan 4.90, 13 Phil Mickelson 4.81, 14 Matt Kuchar 4.64, 15 Bill Haas 4.57, 16 Bubba Watson 4.39, 17 Graeme McDowell 4.35, 18 Tiger Woods 4.26, 19 Nick Watney 4.26, 20 Keegan Bradley 4.16. Selected others: 21 Sergio Garcia, 24 Peter Hanson, 29 Ian Poulter, 30 Thomas Bjorn, 31 Paul Casey, 32 Alvaro Quiros, 34 Robert Karlsson, 35 Simon Dyson, 36 Martin Laird, 40 Anders Hansen, 43 Fredrik Jacobson, 44 Francesco Molinari, 45 Paul Lawrie, 51 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 52 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, 57 Robert Rock, 58 Darren Clarke, 61 Matteo Manassero, 63 Rafael Cabrera Bello, 69 Nicolas Colsaerts, 73 Joost Luiten, 77 Alexander Noren, 85 Pablo Larrazabal, 88 David Lynn, 89 Edoardo Molinari, 91 Padraig Harrington, 93 Carl Pettersson, 96 Gregory Havret, 98 Michael Hoey, 99 Jamie Donaldson, 101 Stephen Gallacher.