Manassero on the up

Italian Matteo Manassero will celebrate his 18th birthday tomorrow as the 33rd ranked golfer in the world.

Manassero, who last October became the youngest winner in European Tour history, triumphed again at the Malaysian Open at the weekend.

American Brendan Steele, meanwhile, improves 99 spots to 132nd after his surprise victory at the Texas Open.

Latest leading positions in the world rankings:

1 Martin Kaymer 7.64, 2 Lee Westwood 7.37, 3 Luke Donald 7.01, 4 Phil Mickelson 6.62, 5 Graeme McDowell 5.93, 6 Tiger Woods 5.89, 7 Rory McIlroy 5.72, 8 Paul Casey 5.68, 9 Steve Stricker 5.47, 10 Matt Kuchar 5.23

11 Charl Schwartzel 5.18, 12 Dustin Johnson 5.06, 13 Jim Furyk 4.94, 14 Nick Watney 4.56, 15 Ernie Els 4.52, 16 Ian Poulter 4.27, 17 Bubba Watson 4.26, 18 Adam Scott 4.23, 19 Francesco Molinari 4.20, 20 Hunter Mahan 4.11

Other leading Europeans:

21 Robert Karlsson, 23 Martin Laird, 25 Justin Rose, 26 Alvaro Quiros, 27 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 29 Edoardo Molinari, 33 Matteo Manassero, 38 Padraig Harrington, 42 Peter Hanson, 44 Ross Fisher, 47 Anders Hansen, 65 Thomas Bjorn, 73 Sergio Garcia, 74 Stephen Gallacher, 81 Raphael Jacquelin, 82 Simon Dyson, 85 David Horsey, 87 Rhys Davies, 88 Gregory Bourdy, 93 Henrik Stenson, 97 Brian Davis, 99 Fredrik Andersson Hed