Watson got the better of South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen at the second extra hole to clinch his first major title at Augusta on Sunday evening.

The 33-year-old is now the highest-ranked American in the world having moved ahead of the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Hunter Mahan.

Oosthuizen's runner-up finish was good enough for the 2010 Open champion to break back into the world's top 20 at 19.

Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy - who ended up 32nd and 40th respectively at Augusta - remain at one and two with Lee Westwood, who was left to curse another missed opportunity at a major after finishing two shots adrift in a tie for third, some way clear of Watson at three.

Latest leading positions in the world golf rankings:

1 Luke Donald 9.61pts, 2 Rory McIlroy 9.53, 3 Lee Westwood 8.24, 4 Bubba Watson 6.53, 5 Hunter Mahan 5.89, 6 Steve Stricker 5.64, 7 Martin Kaymer 5.58, 8 Tiger Woods 5.55, 9 Phil Mickelson 5.31, 10 Justin Rose 5.28, 11 Adam Scott 5.11, 12 Charl Schwartzel 5.06, 13 Webb Simpson 5.02, 14 Matt Kuchar 4.92, 15 Graeme McDowell 4.88, 16 Jason Day 4.88, 17 Dustin Johnson 4.83, 18 Bill Haas 4.52, 19 Louis Oosthuizen 4.49, 20 Keegan Bradley 4.34

Other leading Europeans:

21 Sergio Garcia, 24 Peter Hanson, 25 Ian Poulter, 31 Thomas Bjorn, 33 Martin Laird, 35 Alvaro Quiros, 36 Robert Karlsson, 37 Simon Dyson, 40 Anders Hansen, 41 Fredrik Jacobson, 42 Paul Casey, 43 Francesco Molinari, 44 Paul Lawrie, 51 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, 57 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 58 Robert Rock, 63 Darren Clarke, 64 Matteo Manassero, 66 Nicolas Colsaerts, 67 Rafael Cabrera Bello, 68 Carl Pettersson, 74 Michael Hoey, 79 Joost Luiten, 80 Padraig Harrington, 82 Alexander Noren, 84 Pablo Larrazabal, 91 Edoardo Molinari, 94 David Lynn, 95 Jamie Donaldson, 97 Brian Davis, 100 Thorbjorn Olesen