PAUL DUNNE HAS moved inside the world’s top 100 for the first time in his career after he followed up his maiden European Tour title with a joint seventh-placed finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
The 24-year-old’s late-season form has catapulted him up the latest world rankings and he now sits in 80th position, making him the second highest ranked Irish golfer behind Rory McIlroy (sixth).
Dunne leapfrogs Shane Lowry, who finished in a tie for 25th on the Scottish links over the weekend, with the Offaly native dropping down to 82nd in the world.
Not only has Dunne’s victory at the British Masters and a fifth top 10 finish of the season seen him surge up the world rankings, but he is now up to 13th in the lucrative Race to Dubai standings with overall season earnings of €1,390,364.
The top 60 players qualify for the season-ending World Tour Championship in Dubai next month.
Both Dunne and Lowry are among the field for this week’s Italian Open, which is the fifth Rolex Series event of the year and has a prize fund of $7 million.
Meanwhile, Pádraig Harrington, who has dropped to 163rd in the world, has confirmed he will play on Spanish soil for the first time in nine years later this month when he plays in the Andalucia Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation.
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