Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace and Charl Schwartzel all dropped one spot in the latest world rankings with Spain’s No 1 Jon Rahm the big winner.
Oosthuizen finished T49 at the Singapore Open after sliding back down the field after starting with a 66. His final round 76 saw him finish over par at the Sentosa Golf Club where Sergio Garcia cruised to the title.
Garcia moved up one spot to ninth after winning by five strokes from Shaun Norris. The South African, who plies his trade on the Japan Tour, rocketed up 40 places after his runner-up finish and is now SA’s fifth-ranked player.
Like Oosthuizen, Branden Grace was unable to make good on a fast start as he finished T15 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. After opening with a 72, rounds of 64 and 67 thrust Grace into contention but a final round 76 in difficult, windy conditions ended any hopes of going one better than his second place finish from the week before.
Another South African who failed to produce fourth round magic was Dylan Frittelli, although he has the consolation that his T19 finish was enough to see him rise two spots. Chasing a place at The Masters following his breakthrough 2017 season which included two European Tour wins, the 27-year-old shot 74 on Sunday to miss out on a place in the top 10.
Charl Schwartzel was not in action last week and joins countryman Oosthuizen and Grace in dropping a single place.
On the PGA Tour, Jon Rahm won the CareerBuilder Challenge after a final round 67 helped him into a playoff with Andrew Landry. The Spaniard held his nerve as he rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole to secure his second title in the US and move ahead Jordan Spieth in the rankings.
Dustin Johnson finished T9 in Abu Dhabi and retains his healthy lead at the top of the rankings with Spieth third ahead of Justin Thomas and Hideki Matsuyama.
Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy remains 11th in the world, one ahead of Tommy Fleetwood who moved up six places after defending his title at the start of the desert swing.
Top 10 South African rankings:
25. Louis Oosthuizen
29. Branden Grace
35. Charl Schwartzel
51. Dylan Frittelli
111. Shaun Norris
128. Richard Sterne
130. Erik Van Rooyen
138. George Coetzee
140. Dean Burmester
166. Darren Fichardt
