Higgo big South African winner in world rankings

Apr 28, 2021 | Featured, Rankings

Garrick Higgo’s second European Tour title last week in the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open saw him become the third-best South African golfer according to the latest Official World Golf Ranking.

He moved inside the world’s top 100 to 65^th, a climb of 45 places, and he reached his highest ever position on the list, easily surpassing his previous highest of 90^th which he reached after his share of 14^th in last December’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

His rise leapfrogged him past six players, and he is now behind only the top-ranked South African Louis Oosthuizen, who is unchanged in 35^th after his second-place finish in the Zurich Classic on the PGA Tour, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who dropped one spot to 40^th after a week off from tournament play.

Erik van Rooyen, Dylan Frittelli and Branden Grace all lost ground after their showings in the PGA Tour event last week, with Van Rooyen and Frittelli each losing two spots, and Grace five. Van Rooyen is in 69^th, Frittelli in 73^rd and Grace in 88^th on the rankings list.

Brandon Stone’s victory in the Limpopo Championship, co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the Challenge Tour, saw him climb 22 places on the list to 76^th, while one of the players he defeated in that four-way play-off for the win, Daniel van Tonder, is also up by eight places, into 72^nd.

George Coetzee in 96^th – down two – and Justin Harding in 125^th – up six – round out South Africa’s top 10, and there are now nine South African’s in the world’s top 100 players.

Further down the list, Jaco Prinsloo moved into the world’s top 200 with his share of 11^th in the Limpopo Championship, a rise of 10 spots and way above his 736^th place at the end of 2020. Neil Schietekat climbed to 244^th from 258^th with his share of ninth, and MJ Viljoen to 256^th from 280^th with his share of fifth in the Limpopo Championship.

One of the other men who lost in the play-off to Stone was Hennie du Plessis, and he climbed 58 places to 285^th on the world rankings. As a result, there are now 26 South Africans inside the world’s top 300.

South Africa’s top 10: