South Africa’s leading players head into the Race to Dubai’s final series needing some strong showings if they are to arrest their 2018 rankings decline.
Monday’s latest rankings continued to show the country’s best ‘in the red’ as Louis Oosthuizen dropped to 40th in the world – two down from last week and 17 places lower than he started the calendar year.
SA’s top-ranked player did not tee it up at the WGC-HSBC Champions after two consecutive starts in Asia where he booked a top-five finish at the CIMB Classic before a top 30 at the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges. Fortunately for Oosthuizen, he will be fresh and ready to go at Sun City next week – a venue where he has performed well over the past three editions of the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Branden Grace is 17 places down on his starting position for the year. A T41 finish in China resulted in a one-place drop to 47th in the world. The eight-time European Tour winner, who ended SA’s decade-long wait for a local winner of ‘Africa’s Major’, has opted to skip the Turkish Airlines Open as he prepares his defence at the Gary Player Country Club.
Charl Schwartzel is now ranked 74th after dropping three places in the latest rankings. Fortunately, the 34-year-old has no immediate rankings concerns with his place at Augusta next April safely booked thanks to his past-winner’s status although he has now dropped 41 places in 2018.
Making up the top quartet is Dylan Frittelli, who dropped two places to 78 despite making the cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship on the PGA Tour. The former University of Texas has also not decided to play in Turkey this week as he looks to gain traction in America. He is, however, set to defend his Mauritius Open title at the end of November.
It is not all doom and gloom with the next five South Africans showing positive growth against their January position.
Justin Harding currently sits in 90th place after starting the year outside the top 700 while Shaun Norris also tucks inside the top 100 in 98th place, some 62 places better than his situation on 1 January.
Brandon Stone, leading the SA cause on the Race to Dubai thanks largely to his Scottish Open triumph, enters the season’s close in 108th place after starting the year in 180th spot.
Also showing positive growth is European Tour rookie Erik van Rooyen; our October cover star is now ranked 130th in the world after starting the calendar year 11 spots higher with that position strengthened late by his Joburg Open runner-up finish.
George Coetzee, Dean Burmester, Darren Fichardt, Thomas Aiken and Richard Sterne are all in action this week in Turkey and could yet reap the rankings rewards associated with the high-profile event.
Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
