Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel will begin the FedExCup playoffs ranked 20th and 25th in the world respectively, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
South Africa’s top-ranked players sat out the Wyndham Championship with their spots in the top 125 on the money list safely secured.
Oosthuizen, 35th in the FedExCup race, remains 20th in the world – a spot secured by his runner-up finish at the final Major of the year at Quail Hollow two weeks ago. Schwartzel finished T48 as he continues his stop-start year on the PGA Tour, but is some way off the pace as he sits 52nd in the FedExCup standings.
Sitting out the week was not an option for Henrik Stenson, who needed a big week in Greensboro to move into the top 30 – the field size for the final playoff event – the Tour Championship – in late September.
Stenson duly obliged, and rocketed up 52 places to 23rd on the list after he shot 64 to claim his first win since The Open last year. An added bonus for the Iceman ahead of the Northern Trust is that he begins the playoffs ranked 6th in the world behind Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia.
Stenson’s rise means Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm and Jason Day all drop down a spot, with Rickie Fowler rounding out the top 10.
Branden Grace, 90th in the FedExCup, dropped one spot to 34 while Rory Sabbatini – who moved up 123 spots after playing his way into this week’s event and now sits at 331st in the rankings – and Tyrone Van Aswegen – who dropped down three spots to 299 – round out the South Africans in the playoffs.
Dylan Frittelli is the fourth and final South African in the top 100 in the rankings, after Brandon Stone dropped to 103 this week.
Top 10 South African rankings:
Louis Oosthuizen – 20
Charl Schwartzel – 25
Branden Grace – 34
Dylan Frittelli – 84
Brandon Stone – 103
Richard Sterne – 108
Dean Burmester – 130
George Coetzee – 148
Jaco Van Zyl – 150
Thomas Aiken – 193
