South Africa’s George Coetzee fired a Sunday 63 to reap the financial and rankings boosts after a successful trip to Spain.
Coetzee set the early clubhouse lead at -16 after going out in 31, eagling the 10th with two more birdies on his card which did not include a single drop. That round jolted the Tshwane Open champion up 31 places in the field and past Jacques Kruswijk and Erik van Rooyen as the leading South African.
As Jon Rahm, Paul Dunne and Nacho Elvira finished above Coetzee, he was consoled by a cheque worth R1,117,562 while Kruyswijk brought home R452,985 for finishing T9 and Van Rooyen earning R246,176 for ending up in a share of 21st place.
Coetzee’s third highlight, after his strong round and his big payday, was his rankings leap, up 14 places to 86th, after the standings were recalculated.
His current position represents his highest ranking in two years and justification for his swing and dietary changes.
Louis Oosthuizen remains SA’s No 1 but went down two spots to 30th with Branden Grace now 35th (down two) and Dylan Frittelli moving outside of the top 50 after his week at the RBC Heritage. Frittelli was on track for a nice rankings lift but a back nine 39 (+4) saw him drop outside of the top 10 at Harbour Town.
There were no changes to the top 13 places in the world even after Jon Rahm lifted his first professional trophy on home soil in Madrid.
Top 10 South African rankings:
Louis Oosthuizen – 30
Branden Grace – 33
Dylan Fritelli – 51
Charl Schwartzel – 62
George Coetzee – 86
Shaun Norris – 111
Dean Burmester – 128
Darren Fichardt – 143
Erik van Rooyen – 156
Richard Sterne – 164
Photo: Quality Sport Images/Getty Images
