Dean Burmester recorded the joint-lowest score over the weekend in the final two rounds of the 150th Open Championship on his way to a share of 11th.
That saw him climb 17 places on the latest Official World Golf Ranking list which came out on Monday.
Burmester, now one spot below his career-high ranking at 65th, carded rounds of five-under 67 on Saturday and six-under 66 on Sunday for a weekend tally of 11-under. That was matched only by Tommy Fleetwood of England, who finished in a share of fourth, and American Bryson DeChambeau, who shared eighth.
The 33-year-old from Bloemfontein reached his highest position on the rankings after his second-place finish in the Steyn City Championship, co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the Sunshine Tour in March this year. And the 11.5 rankings points he took from St Andrews over the weekend made for his biggest haul of 2022.
At the beginning of the year, Burmester said he believed he could win a major championship, and while he was nine shots out of the lead, he felt he learnt a lot from his exploits on the Old Course last week. “I’m really happy with the way I progressed and how comfortable I felt out there,” he said. “I didn’t feel out of place. And that to me says a lot. And maybe one day I can lift one of these things.”
The four other South Africans who made the cut at the Open all recorded improvements in the world ranking positions. Christiaan Bezuidenhout climbed one place to 56th after his share of 68th; Thriston Lawrence was up three into 128th after finishing in a share of 42nd on his major championship debut; Garrick Higgo also climbed three spots to 129th after sharing 47th; and Dylan Frittelli climbed 13 places to 139th after a share of 28th.
Louis Oosthuizen remains South Africa’s top-ranked golfer at 25th. He was down one place after missing the cut at St Andrews.
South Africa’s top 10
1. Louis Oosthuizen (25 – down 1)
2. Christiaan Bezuidenhout (56 – up 1)
3. Dean Burmester (65 – up 17)
4. Erik van Rooyen (86 – up 3)
5. Shaun Norris (87 – down 2)
6. Oliver Bekker (99 – unchanged)
7. Justin Harding (120 – down 2)
8. Charl Schwartzel (123 – up 2)
9. Thriston Lawrence (128 – up 3)
10. Garrick Higgo (129 – up 3)