Masters 2012: Paul Lawrie slides down world rankings

Lawrie spent a frustrating final day at the Masters

Paul Lawrie has dropped one place to 44th in the world rankings despite a 24th-place finish at the Masters.

But fellow Scotsman Martin Laird has moved up two spots to 33rd even though he finished well down the field at Augusta National.

Lawrie, 43, finished at one over par after a final-round 76, having started the day six behind then leader Peter Hanson in 10th place.

Laird ended up 10 strokes behind Lawrie after his final round of 77.

But the two-year rolling nature of the world rankings have this time worked in favour of Laird, who only just made the cut and had rounds of 76, 72 and 74 before finishing 21 shots adrift of eventual winner Bubba Watson.

As both Scots missed out an a top 16 place, they will not qualify automatically for next year's Masters and will have to rely on being in the world's top 50 in order to make a return to Augusta.

Lawrie returned to top 50 in February after his Qatar Masters title win and remains well placed in the race to qualify for Europe's Ryder Cup team.

"Huge disapointment today," he said on his own website blog.

"Played poorly and really struggled with pitching and putting.

"Shot 76 to finish +1 for the week, which is a pity as I've played some good golf this week, but today was awful.

"But it was nice to play in the Masters again. Just a real pain to finish like that."

Despite being the 18th best European in the latest world rankings, the Aberdonian lies fifth in the Ryder Cup points table.

Because Laird plays most of his golf in the United States, the 29-year-old Glasgwegian is down at 50.

In the Race to Dubai, the season-long competition spanning tournaments in 25 countries during the European Tour, Lawrie lies seventh and Laird 22nd.

The 1999 Open champion began this year's campaign in fine style with an opening-round 69 and remained in contention with two level-par 72s, remarking after day three that he thought he was in a good position to challenge Hanson and the others at the top of the leaderboard.

However, while playing partner Lee Westwood shot a fine 68 to tie for third, Lawrie finished 11 behind Watson, who carded a 68 and took the title after a play-off against Louis Oosthuizen.