Charl Schwartzel and Dylan Frittelli have made steady gains in the official golf world rankings after finishing second and first respectively this weekend, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Schwartzel came within inches of forcing defending champion Daniel Berger into a playoff at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, but his putt on 17 failed to drop, forcing the 2011 Masters Champion to settle for second place.
Looking for form ahead of this week’s US Open at Erin Hills (see the first round tee times HERE!), Schwartzel will be left wondering what if, after his Saturday 74 saw him plummet down the leaderboard, but will arrive in Wisconsin as the 16th-best player in the world and South Africa’s top-ranked player.
His best finish at the US Open came two years ago when he finished seventh.
Dylan Frittelli will not be at Erin Hills this week, but will be taking some time off after claiming his maiden European Tour win at the Lyoness Open in Austria. The win saw him jump up 28 places to 76th – he is now SA’s fourth-highest ranked player.
Frittelli also moved into 17th place in the Race to Dubai standings.
Jbe Kruger, who finished T2 in Austria, is now 11th on the South African rankings after moving up 60 places to 192 in the world.
The top four of the rankings remain unchanged as defending US Open champion Dustin Johnson tees off this week as world number one, with Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama chasing him. Spain’s Sergio Garcia dropped two places, with Jordan Spieth moving into fifth and Henrik Stenson moving into sixth ahead of the year’s second Major.
Top 10 South African rankings:
Charl Schwartzel – 16
Louis Oosthuizen – 21
Branden Grace – 26
Dylan Frittelli – 76
Brandon Stone –91
Dean Burmester – 102
Richard Sterne – 111
Jaco Van Zyl – 123
George Coetzee – 127
Thomas Aiken – 183
Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images
