He was ranked 20^th-best South African by last week’s Official World Golf Ranking list, and his performance on the DP World Tour last week has seen Deon Germishuys jump to 11^th-best South African.

Germishuys came third in the KLM Open at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands, and that gave him a 67-place boost on the list to a career-high 221^st, vaulting past the likes of major champions Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, Dylan Frittelli, Shaun Norris and George Coetzee.

Germishuys now has 10^th-placed Garrick Higgo in his sights: Higgo was down three places to 203^rd, and just above him in 197^th is Hennie du Plessis in 197^th.

As he approaches the world’s top 200, the stakes become higher and the opportunities should start to become very tempting for him. With his first major championship just around the corner in the US Open from June 15, his rise is looking likely to continue if he keeps playing as well as he has been.

Outside South Africa’s top 20, there were great performances from Casey Jarvis, who climbed from 393 to 340 after his second place at the Copenhagen Challenge, and Louis Albertse who went from 504 to 474 after his win in the Kit Kat Cash and Carry Pro-Am on the Sunshine Tour.

The top South African remains Christiaan Bezuidenhout in 78^th, unchanged from last week.

South Africa’s top 20:

1. Christiaan Bezuidenhout 78 (unchanged)
2. Dean Burmester 85 (down 2)
3. Thriston Lawrence 96 (down 1)
4. Oliver Bekker 135 (down 6)
5. Ockie Strydom 149 (down 4)
6. Erik van Rooyen 150 (down 5)
7. MJ Daffue 162 (down 6)
8. Zander Lombard 184 (down 2)
9. Hennie du Plessis 197 (down 5)
10. Garrick Higgo 203 (down 3)
11. Deon Germishuys 221 (up 67)
12. Dylan Frittelli 227 (down 2)
13. Louis Oosthuizen 231 (down 29)
14. Shaun Norris 241 (down 8)
15. Charl Schwartzel 253 (down 7)
16. George Coetzee 261 (up 2)
17. Louis de Jager 267 (up 8)
18. Jaco Ahlers 277 (down 8)
19. Daniel van Tonder 279 (down 8)
20. JC Ritchie 287 (down 8)