Graeme McDowell has quietly inched ahead of his fellow Irish golf ace Rory McIlroy this week as he begins his defense of the US Open at Congressional near Washington.

Neither golfer actually played last week when they swapped places in the world rankings, with McDowell returning to seventh and McIlroy slipping to eighth.

The latest leading positions in the world golf rankings are:

1 Luke Donald 9.11pts, 2 Lee Westwood 8.36, 3 Martin Kaymer 7.29, 4 Steve Stricker 6.44, 5 Phil Mickelson 6.09, 6 Matt Kuchar 5.58, 7 Graeme McDowell 5.46, 8 Rory McIlroy 5.40, 9 Dustin Johnson 5.08, 10 Paul Casey 5.07

11 Charl Schwartzel 5.04, 12 Bubba Watson 4.90, 13 Ian Poulter 4.80, 14 Nick Watney 4.70, 15 Tiger Woods 4.53, 16 KJ Choi 4.43, 17 Robert Karlsson 4.25, 18 Jason Day 4.25, 19 Jim Furyk 4.20, 20 Hunter Mahan 4.15.

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