Both Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington could soon be within striking distance of Tiger Woods at the top of the world rankings.
Out of action since June because of knee surgery and unlikely to return until just before The Masters in April, Woods' lead has now shrunk from 11.3 to 3.8 points.
Garcia, nearly 15 points behind when he entered 2008 in 12th place, goes into 2009 as number two and the man most likely to topple the American.
But Open and USPGA champion Harrington, who has improved from eighth to fourth this year, will have a chance too if he is fast off the blocks on his return to action.
Woods has been at the head of the rankings for a total of 529 weeks in his career. The last player to take the top spot from him was Vijay Singh in June 2005.
Third-placed Phil Mickelson, whose rivalry with Woods has been given added spice by derogatory comments made by Woods' caddie Steve Williams two weeks ago, has never been number one, but he too may have an opportunity in the coming months.
England's Justin Rose is one of five men who have fallen out of the top 10 during the year. The others are Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Adam Scott and KJ Choi.
The players to replace them are Garcia, Robert Karlsson, Camilo Villegas, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood, while the biggest move into the top 50 has come from 19-year-old Rory McIlroy, who began 2008 at 232nd and ends it 39th.
Leading positions at end of 2008 (start of year positions in brackets:
1 (1) Tiger Woods 11.96pts, 2 (12) Sergio Garcia 8.10, 3 (2) Phil Mickelson 7.02, 4 (8) Padraig Harrington 6.95, 5 (10) Vijay Singh 6.64, 6 (41) Robert Karlsson 5.08, 7 (56) Camilo Villegas 4.89, 8 (16) Henrik Stenson 4.76, 9 (4) Ernie Els 4.76, 10 (23) Lee Westwood 4.73, 11 (75) Anthony Kim 4.44, 12 (13) Geoff Ogilvy 4.44, 13 (3) Jim Furyk 4.30, 14 (92) Kenny Perry 3.88, 15 (5) Steve Stricker 3.87, 16 (24) Stewart Cink 3.85, 17 (7) Adam Scott 3.80, 18 KJ Choi (9) 3.74, 19 (6) Justin Rose 3.58, 20 (19) Trevor Immelman 3.40
Other leading Europeans:
22 (38) Miguel Angel Jimenez, 25 (76) Martin Kaymer, 26 (22) Ian Poulter, 29 (84) Ross Fisher, 31 (17) Luke Donald, 33 (106) Graeme McDowell, 39 (232) Rory McIlroy, 40 (101) Oliver Wilson, 41 (21) Paul Casey, 47 (46) Soren Hansen, 50 (69) Soren Kjeldsen, 55 (54) Peter Hanson, 62 (61) Carl Pettersson, 67 (82) Fredrik Jacobson, 70 (225) Darren Clarke, 73 (291) Alvaro Quiros, 76 (90) Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, 78 (48) Nick Dougherty, 79 (177) Francesco Molinari, 86 (161) Peter Hedblom, 89 (50) Anders Hansen, 90 (534) Gareth Maybin, 96 (689) Pablo Larrazabal, 97 (187) Alexander Noren
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STENSON IN SEVENTH HEAVEN
