While there were bigger South African moves upward on the Official World Golf Ranking list published on Monday, none was as significant as Oliver Bekker’s 23-spot climb to 89th.
Bekker lost out in a playoff on Sunday on the DP World Tour, eventually finishing runner-up in the Catalunya Championship for his best finish on the tour this season and his sixth top-10 finish in nine starts.
From 112th last week, he has made his way inside the top 100 in the world, and vaulted past Garrick Higgo, Daniel van Tonder, Justin Harding and Branden Grace to become the sixth-best golfer in South Africa according to the rankings.
Of course, Tristen Strydom and Pieter Moolman have more substantial rises to brag about: Strydom’s maiden Sunshine Tour win in the Tour Championship saw him climb 82 places to 153rd, and Moolman’s runner-up spot in the same tournament gave him a 95-place boost to 283rd. Strydom started the year in 437th, and Moolman in 459th.
Strydom’s move catapults him just outside the pretty rarefied air of the world’s top 150, and, of course, close to the top 100, at which point the world’s golf media begins to take note and you get closer to playing in the majors.
There were also good climbs for Hennie du Plessis, who got to 126th, up 20 places, after his top 10 in Catalunya; Thriston Lawrence in 142nd, climbing eight places after his performance in Catalunya; and George Coetzee who improved by 13 places to 180th after his third-place finish in the Sunshine Tour’s Tour Championship.
Louis Oosthuizen remains unchanged in 15th place, and is South Africa’s top golfer.
SOUTH AFRICA'S TOP 10
1. Louis Oosthuizen (15 – unchanged)
2. Erik van Rooyen (61 down 3)
3. Shaun Norris (63 – down 1)
4. Christiaan Bezuidenhout (69 – down 3)
5. Dean Burmester (71 – down 2)
6. Oliver Bekker (89 – up 23)
7. Garrick Higgo (97 – down 3)
8. Daniel van Tonder (103 – down 4)
9. Justin Harding (104 – up 1)
10. Branden Grace (108 – down 5)