Stenson moves to No. 5 in world rankings

Henrik Stenson’s daylong charge in the final round of The Players Championship resulted in a tournament title and a charge to No. 5 in the world golf rankings.

Stenson posted a bogey-free 66 Sunday and won The Players Championship by four strokes over Ian Poulter. The victory boosted Stenson four spots to fifth in Monday’s rankings. That matches his career best, last reached in 2007.

Poulter improved from 30th to 18th while Jim Furyk, who tied for fifth at The Players Championship, went from 15th to 14th. They, along with Stenson, were the only golfers in the top 29 to better their rankings.

Tiger Woods is still No. 1 with Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Geoff Ogilvy keeping spots 2-4, respectively, in the rankings.

Stenson’s move from ninth to fifth dropped four golfers each one spot. Kenny Perry is the new No. 6 followed by seventh-rated Paul Casey, No. 8 Padraig Harrington and Vijay Singh in ninth. Camilo Villegas is 10th.

Daniel Vancsik, who won the European PGA Tour’s BMW Italian Open, is ranked 213th, an improvement of 207 spots over a week ago.