Ireland's big three slip in world rankings

IRELAND'S "big three" of Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley have suffered a noticeable drop in their world rankings since the beginning of 2006.

As yet there is no threat to their respective positions comfortably within the top 50 but the trend is less than favourable, with Harrington having gone out from 17th to 20th, Clarke from 18th to 25th and McGinley from 21st to 29th.

Harrington, in fact, was sixth after he won the Barclays Classic at Westchester last June but not a whole lot has gone right for him in the meantime. He has now completed four straight tournaments this year and performed steadily in each but without any great sign of inspiration.