Shaun Norris rode his second-place finish at the weekend on the Japan Golf Tour to climb 30 places on the latest Official World Golf Ranking list issued this week as he reached 256^th place.

Norris’ latest performance was another in a string of five top-five finishes in a tour he now calls home. It was also his second runner-up spot since his second place in the Fujisankei Classic at the beginning of September. It pushed him to 11^th on the Japan Golf Tour’s Order of Merit, a list on which he has featured near the top for the last seven years thanks to six wins there.

His climb this week means he is now ranked South Africa’s eighth-best golfer, even though he is a long way off his career-high ranking of 54^th achieved after his share of fourth in the January 2020 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Good performances in the Sunshine Tour’s Vodacom Origins of Golf Final at Oubaai saw the winner, Dean Burmester, up 18 places to 125^th, Barend Botha up nine to 333^rd, Jacques Kruyswijk up 17 spots to 376^th, and Daniel van Tonder up six to 399^th.

The biggest climber from that tournament was Jean Hugo, who went up 112 places from 777 to 665. Bryce Easton went up 46 places from 764 to 718, and Stefan Wears Taylor went up 94 places from 1,087 to 993. All of those players are outside South Africa’s top 25 according to the official rankings.

Christo Lamprecht made good use of an opportunity in the PGA Tour’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship, and his share of 23^rd saw him climb to a career-high of 817^th, up 133 places.

South Africa’s top golfer remains Thriston Lawrence, who was unchanged in 47^th place after his share of 30^th in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

South Africa’s top 25:

1. Thriston Lawrence 47 (unchanged)
2. Christiaan Bezuidenhout 54 (down 2)
3. Erik van Rooyen 74 (down 1)
4. Dean Burmester 125 (up 18)
5. Robin Williams 198 (down 3)
6. Zander Lombard 227 (down 4)
7. Louis Oosthuizen 239 (down 3)
8. Shaun Norris 256 (up 30)
9. Brandon Stone 260 (down 5)
10. Garrick Higgo 289 (up 2)
11. Jayden Schaper 305 (down 6)
12. Casey Jarvis 318 (down 3)
13. Barend Botha 333 (up 9)
14. Jonathan Broomhead 347 (up 1)
15. Aldrich Potgieter 349 (down 2)
16. Deon Germishuys 353 (down 3)
17. Dylan Frittelli 363 (down 3)
18. Jacques Kruyswijk 376 (up 17)
19. Hennie du Plessis 382 (down 8)
20. Thomas Aiken 389 (down 5)
21. Jaco Ahlers 395 (down 2)
22. Daniel van Tonder 399 (up 6)
23. Ryan van Velzen 405 (down 7)
24. Darren Fichardt 406 (down 3)
25. Wilco Nienaber 410 (up 2)