Final 2006 world rankings announced

With the final officially-sanctioned tournaments for the year 2006 now completed, the end-of-year list of the top golfers in the world has been released.

Unsurprisingly Tiger Woods (pictured) occupies the number one position on the Official World Golf Ranking, as he has since June 2005 ? he has more than double the number of points of his nearest rival, Jim Furyk.

After winning the South African Airways Open over the weekend, Ernie Els moves back up to fifth place, the exact position he started 2006, while notable climbers into the top 10 include Ireland's Padraig Harrington (8th), England's Luke Donald (9th) and Australia's Geoff Ogilvy (10th).

Other success stories further down the list include Paul Casey (up from 52nd to 15th), Henrik Stenson (32nd to 12th), Trevor Immelman (62nd to 13th), Johan Edfors (410th to 48th) and Jeev Milkha Singh (376th to 37th). 2006 was not a particularly great year for European Ryder Cup players Sergio Garcia (down from 6th to 11th) and Colin Montgomerie (8th to 17th), and they will be looking to bounce back into the world's top 10 in 2007.

FINAL 2006 OFFICIAL GOLF WORLD RANKINGS (2005 final positions in brackets)

Top 20 players

1. T Woods (USA) 20.41pts (1)

2. J Furyk (USA) 8.88pts (7)

3. P Mickelson (USA) 7.17pts (3)

4. A Scott (Aus) 7.03pts (9)

5. E Els (RSA) 6.05pts (5)

6. R Goosen (RSA) 5.61pts (4)

7. V Singh (Fij) 5.58pts (2)

8. P Harrington (Ire) 5.46pts (17)

9. L Donald (Eng) 5.25pts (13)

10. G Ogilvy (Aus) 5.21pts (50)

11. S Garcia (Spa) 5.12pts (6)

12. H Stenson (Swe) 4.62pts (32)

13. T Immelman (RSA) 4.58pts (62)

14. D Howell (Eng) 3.80pts (11)

15. P Casey (Eng) 3.75pts (52)

16. D Love III (USA) 3.69pts (19)

17. C Montgomerie (Sco) 3.64pts (8)

18. JM Olazabal (Spa) 3.54pts (26)

19. D Toms (USA) 3.46pts (15)

20. C DiMarco (USA) 3.46pts (10)