Tiger Woods has dropped another three places to 36th in the latest golf world rankings.
Darren Clarke, the British Open champion, Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez and Webb Simpson, the PGA Tour's newest winner, have all now overtaken Woods, who is destined to fall farther after failing to qualify for the FedEx Cup play-offs.
Simpson, who captured the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina, is up from 55th to 33rd. Luke Donald is No 1 ahead of Lee Westwood and Steve Stricker.
Elsewhere, Paul McGinley will again captain Britain and Ireland while Jean Van de Velde of France is to lead the Continental Europe team at the Vivendi Seve Trophy.
Irishman McGinley led his side to victory at the same St Nom La Breteche venue in Paris in 2009.
Van de Velde will succeed the Dane, Thomas Bjorn, as captain at the September 15-18 event.
The biennial competition, contested in non-Ryder Cup years, was developed 11 years ago by the late Seve Ballesteros, and his close friend, Jose Maria Olazabal, the 2012 Ryder Cup captain, has selected the two captains.
"It's a great honour to be invited back as captain," McGinley, 44, said in a news release. "With Seve's sad passing earlier this year there will be added poignancy."
