Rory McIlroy ends year as world No.1

London: For the first time Rory McIlroy has ended the year as world No.1 with a big lead over Luke Donald and Tiger Woods.

The 23-year-old won four tournaments this year that included the USPGA, his second major. Finally the scotsman managed to break free to the top after a year-long duel with Donald and Lee Westwood.

Charl Schwartzel and Sergio Garcia end 14th and 16th in the world respectively after their wins in South Africa and Malaysia.

Dane Thorbjorn Olesen held on to 50th spot by 0.01 ranking points from Australian Geoff Ogilvy and gets to make US Masters debut next April.

Final 2012 positions in the world golf rankings (end of 2011 positions in brackets):

1. (3) Rory McIlroy (NIR) 13.22pts

2. (1) Luke Donald (ENG) 8.62

3. (23) Tiger Woods (USA) 8.53

4. (18) Justin Rose (ENG) 6.42

5. (5) Adam Scott (AUS) 6.21

6. (40) Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 6.14

7. (2) Lee Westwood (ENG) 6.03

8. (21) Bubba Watson (USA) 5.30

9. (33) Jason Dufner (USA) 5.29

10. (38) Brandt Snedeker (USA) 5.23

11. (10) Webb Simpson (USA) 5.13

12. (16) Ian Poulter (ENG) 5.00

13. (31) Keegan Bradley (USA) 5.00

14. (9) Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 4.90

15. (13) Graeme McDowell (NIR) 4.81

16. (17) Sergio Garcia (ESP) 4.74

17. (14) Phil Mickelson (USA) 4.69

18. (6) Steve Stricker (USA) 4.65

19. (42) Peter Hanson (SWE) 4.59

20. (12) Nick Watney (USA) 4.54