It is in the lower reaches of the Official World Golf Ranking list where the big moves can take place, and Jonathan Broomhead took advantage of his share of second in the Sunshine Tour’s KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am last week to give himself a healthy boost up those ranks.

Broomhead got a 27-place lift in the official rankings to 405th, making him the 25th-best South African according to that list. He’s a way off his career-best of 337th which he achieved when he finished in a share of third in the Mediclinic Invitational in January this year.

He gave the opening event of the 2025-26 Sunshine Tour a miss when he didn’t travel to Zimbabwe, but he hit the ground running with his showing at Irene Country Club after seven weeks off from tournament play.

In that tournament, no-one was able to get closer than within 10 strokes of the winner, Mexican Luis Carrera. His rise in the rankings illustrates better than most how much good performances can see a player climb. He started the year in 1,450th position, and his Zimbabwe win after some solid but unspectacular showings in Latin America saw him climb 591 places to 737th.

His Irene triumphal march – together with the extra points for a multi-win bonus – took him 324 places higher to his current career-high of 413rd. That would rank him just behind Broomhead on the South African list, were he a South African. As things stand, he’s the fourth-best Mexican player on the official list.

South Africa’s top player remains Christiaan Bezuidenhout, but he’s down five places to 70th.

Broomhead was the only South African inside the country’s top 25 who went up last week.

South Africa’s top 25:

1. Christiaan Bezuidenhout 70 (down 5)
2. Erik van Rooyen 73 (down 6)
3. Thriston Lawrence 90 (down 4)
4. Shaun Norris 104 (down 3)
5. Garrick Higgo 137 (down 1)
6. Aldrich Potgieter 142 (down 2)
7. Daniel van Tonder 159 (down 1)
8. Jacques Kruyswijk 176 (unchanged)
9. Dean Burmester 177 (down 3)
10. Jayden Schaper 227 (unchanged)
11. Robin Williams 230 (down 2)
12. Christo Lamprecht 236 (down 1)
13. Brandon Stone 252 (down 1)
14. Dylan Naidoo 256 (unchanged)
15. Barend Botha 303 (down 4)
16. Dylan Frittelli 305 (down 1)
17. Louis Oosthuizen 316 (down 9)
18. Wilco Nienaber 321 (down 5)
19. Casey Jarvis 333 (down 2)
20. Deon Germishuys 349 (down 4)
21. Ryan van Velzen 356 (down 5)
22. Zander Lombard 361 (down 9)
23. Charl Schwartzel 368 (down 5)
24. Ian Snyman 404 (down 12)
25. Jonathan Broomhead 405 (up 27)