Thriston Lawrence showed he is rounding back into form at the weekend as his share of sixth in the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSABC Championship saw him climb three places to 47^th on the latest Official World Golf Ranking list.

With the end of the year approaching, and tournaments that will help him climb in the world rankings should he perform well, staying inside the world’s top 50 is good for his chances of getting that year-end Masters invitation which goes to the top 50 on December 31.

While he hasn’t performed badly by any measure since his brief break at home ahead of his victory in the Sunshine Tour’s SunBet Challenge Times Square Casino, his name hasn’t appeared quite as ubiquitously as before the break amongst the DP World Tour’s leading contenders.

He’s only one spot below his career best of 46^th on the rankings, and with the DP World Tour Championship this week, in which he came fourth last year, as well as the Nedbank Golf Challenge, the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Investec South African Open in the near future, Lawrence seems a good bet to stay inside the top 50 for a good while to come.

He wasn’t the biggest climber amongst the top 25 South Africans in the official rankings: That honour went to Garrick Higgo, who, at long last might have arrested a slide down the rankings with his share of sixth in the PGA Tour’s Worldwide Technology Championship. He has bigger fish to fry than his world ranking, however, as he battles over the next few weeks to retain his playing privileges on the PGA Tour.

Brandon Stone and Jayden Schaper both had climbs, of 11 and seven places respectively, from Abu Dhabi performances, but their DP World Tour seasons are run. Stone is at 255^th and Schaper 299^th.

Lawrence remains South Africa’s top-ranked golfer, with Christiaan Bezuidenhout down one place to 52^nd behind him. Erik van Rooyen remained unchanged in 73^rd as the third-best South African according to the official rankings.

South Africa’s top 25:

1. Thriston Lawrence 47 (up 3)
2. Christiaan Bezuidenhout 52 (down 1)
3. Erik van Rooyen 73 (unchanged)
4. Dean Burmester 143 (down 3)
5. Robin Williams 195 (down 2)
6. Zander Lombard 223 (down 6)
7. Louis Oosthuizen 236 (down 6)
8. Brandon Stone 255 (up 11)
9. Shaun Norris 286 (up 11)
10. Garrick Higgo 291 (up 48)
11. Jayden Schaper 299 (up 7)
12. Casey Jarvis 315 (down 8)
13. Barend Botha 342 (down 2)
14. Aldrich Potgieter 347 (down 2)
15. Jonathan Broomhead 348 (up 2)
16. Deon Germishuys 350 (down 1)
17. Dylan Frittelli 360 (down 4)
18. Hennie du Plessis 374 (down 2)
19. Thomas Aiken 384 (unchanged)
20. Jacques Kruyswijk 392 (up 3)
21. Jaco Ahlers 397 (up 2)
22. Ryan van Velzen 398 (up 4)
23. Darren Fichardt 403 (down 6)
24. Daniel van Tonder 405 (up 1)
25. Wilco Nienaber 412 (down 5)