Record-seeking Woods solidifies No. 1 ranking

Jan 29, 2007, 21:00 GMT

Philadelphia, PA - Tiger Woods' win at the Buick Invitational on Sunday increased his overall lead in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The victory was Woods' fifth at Torrey Pines and his seventh straight title in PGA Tour starts (four shy of Byron Nelson's all-time record). He now leads No. 2 Jim Furyk by 11.88 average points -- up from his 10.91-point lead last week.

By comparison, Furyk is separated from the No. 50 golfer in the world by less than seven points.

Adam Scott remained third behind Furyk and Ernie Els moved up to fourth, knocking Phil Mickelson to fifth.

Retief Goosen was also a winner on Sunday, claiming his 14th career European Tour title at the Qatar Masters. He moved up two places to No. 6, dropping Vijay Singh to seventh and Luke Donald to eighth.

Places 9-15 remained the same from a week ago: Padraig Harrington, Geoff Ogilvy, Sergio Garcia, Trevor Immelman, Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson and David Howell all held onto their positions.

Nick O'Hern made the biggest gain among the top 20, climbing five spots to No. 16 following his runner-up finish to Goosen in Qatar.

His gain equaled a loss for other golfers. Davis Love III, David Toms and Colin Montgomerie dipped one place apiece to 17th, 18th and 19th respectively.

Chris DiMarco remained 20th, but Jose Maria Olazabal was knocked from the top 20 altogether, falling two places to 21st.

© 2007 The Sports Network