Stone back on upward trend in world rankings

May 22, 2023 | Featured, Rankings

While the top 20 players in South Africa according to the Official World Golf Ranking list published on Monday remained unchanged, Brandon Stone had a leap of 63 places on the list thanks to a good week last week on the Challenge Tour.

Stone came close to winning, but a bogey on the final hole left him in second place in the B-NL Challenge Trophy at Twentsch Golf Club in Delden, Netherlands. However, it was a pretty clear indicator that he is well and truly on the road back to the kind of form which he showed a couple of years ago when he reached his career-high of 67^th on the rankings. The journey has involved changes to his life – from where he lives and how he lives to an enforced step-down in level of golf – but the steadiness of his return has been very encouraging.

The four players who represented South Africa in the PGA Championship over the weekend remain amongst the country’s best. The two who missed the cut – Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Ockie Strydom – each slipped one place on the list, and the two who made it – Dean Burmester and Thriston Lawrence – climbed two and one place respectively.

Bezuidenhout remains South Africa’s top-ranked player in 78^th place.

All other players in South Africa’s top 20 slipped due to inaction and the movement of players above them on the list. Most notable of the drops was the 16-place drop for Louis Oosthuizen, who slips outside the world’s top 200.

South Africa’s top 20: