Barend Botha might not be a familiar name to South African golf fans, but his second win in as many starts on the PGA Tour Americas last week secured him a spectacular 334-place rise on the latest Official World Golf Ranking list.

Botha made his debut at the Bromont Open presented by Desjardins on July 18-21, and claimed his first professional victory at the Commissionaires Ottawa Open in his second tournament on the PGA Tour Americas after carding a final-round five-under par 67.

He continued his red-hot start to his professional career by winning his second-straight tournament with a one-shot victory at the BioSteel Championship last week. He has now won two of the three tournaments he has entered.

His victory saw him soar to 322^nd on the official listing, lifting him above several of his more recognisable compatriots. He’s now the 12^th-best South African according to the rankings.

Below him – and outside the top 25 South Africans for now – Daniel van Tonder had a big boost with his win in Eswatini on the Sunshine Tour as he climbed 45 places to 486^th. That made him the 27^th-best South African on the official rankings.

Olympians Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Erik van Rooyen remain South Africa’s top-ranked players after their top-third of the field finishes in Paris last week. Bezuidenhout was up one place to 45^th and Van Rooyen up two to 67^th.

Wilco Nienaber was the only other South African within the top 25 on the world list to improve his position. His sixth-place finish on the Challenge Tour in Ireland saw him up 18 places to 376^th.

South Africa’s top 25:

1. Christiaan Bezuidenhout 45 (up 1)
2. Erik van Rooyen 67 (up 2)
3. Thriston Lawrence 74 (down 2)
4. Dean Burmester 111 (down 2)
5. Zander Lombard 157 (down 4)
6. Louis Oosthuizen 168 (down 3)
7. Garrick Higgo 262 (down 5)
8. Dylan Frittelli 278 (down 2)
9. Hennie du Plessis 290 (down 7)
10. Jayden Schaper 310 (down 8)
11. Robin Williams 312 (down 3)
12. Barend Botha 322 (up 334)
13. Casey Jarvis 336 (down 7)
14. Shaun Norris 337 (down 6)
15. Aldrich Potgieter 340 (down 7)
16. Ryan van Velzen 341 (down 7)
17. Deon Germishuys 341 (down 3)
18. Brandon Stone 354 (down 9)
19. Jaco Ahlers 355 (down 8)
20. Jacques Kruyswijk 371 (down 1)
21. Wilco Nienaber 376 (up 18)
22. Louis de Jager 383 (down 7)
23. Ockie Strydom 387 (down 9)
24. Darren Fichardt 413 (down 6)
25. Thomas Aiken 421 (down 5)