Chris Paisley continued his excellent start to 2018 at last week’s Maybank Championship and now sits one place behind the automatic qualification spots for The 2018 Ryder Cup.

The Englishman, who followed his first European Tour victory in South Africa in January with back-to-back top-five finishes in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, made another flying start in Malaysia where he took the first round lead after a blemish-free 65.

After a second round of 69, Paisley’s 12th consecutive sub-70 score, the 31 year old was one off the halfway lead, and although he couldn’t maintain his form over the weekend Paisley overhauls Ireland’s Paul Dunne to sit one place behind Rory McIlroy in the projected team.

Over in America World Number Two Jon Rahm continues to impress. The Spaniard put himself firmly in contention at the Waste Management Phoenix Open with a third round of 65, and while he was unable to get over the line he remains one of the world’s form players in 2018.

Also rising up the Official World Golf Ranking after last week were Justin Rose, who moves up from sixth to fifth, and Tommy Fleetwood, who sits in a career-high 12th spot.

RELATED: Latest Ryder Cup Europe points standings

The points race, which began at the REAL D+D Czech Masters last year, will heat up once May comes around, when points earned will be multiplied by 1.5 at Rolex Series events.

This change to the points system will come into effect at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the first Rolex Series event of the season, promising plenty of drama over the coming year.