Lefty rises to No. 10 in world after Phoenix win

• By Ryan Lavner
• Feb 4, 2013 8:15 AM ET

Phil Mickelson’s first title in nearly a year rocketed him up the Official World Rankings to 10^th – his highest position since last May.

Entering last week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, Lefty was ranked No. 22 in the world. He hadn’t been ranked that low since he was 24^th after the season opener in January 1996.

After his victory last year at Pebble Beach, Mickelson moved to ninth but endured an inconsistent stretch that saw his ranking fluctuate accordingly. A late-season surge in which he had three top-4 finishes in his last four starts moved him to 17^th in the year-end rankings.

Mickelson, 42, is the defending champion at this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, where last year he whipped Tiger Woods in the final round to win.

Also moving up this week is Brandt Snedeker, on the stretch of his second runner-up finish in as many weeks. He jumped from No. 7 to No. 6, flipping spots with Adam Scott.

The rest of the top 10: world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Louis Oosthuizen, Snedeker, Scott, Lee Westwood, Bubba Watson and Mickelson.

Stephen Gallacher, who won the European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic, made the biggest move of the week, rising from No. 111 to 60^th. The top 64 as of next Monday make the field for the first World Golf Championships event of the season, the Accenture Match Play in Arizona.