Louis Oosthuizen may have endured the disappointment of a sixth runners-up finish at a Major, but he still banked a cool $1 350 000 (R19.2 million) at the US Open and moved to 12th in the world rankings.

Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, was in the running at Torrey Pines until a wayward drive at the 17th doomed his title bid after he pulled his tee shot left into bushes and needed a penalty drop.

That effectively ended Oosthuizen’s chance to claim a long-awaited Major victory, but he is still closing in on the top 10 world rankings, which has not included a South African golfer since Branden Grace in 2016.

He also banked a big pay cheque for his standalone finish in second place, while it was also a particularly memorably payday for six out the nine South Africans who made the cut.

Branden Grace (T7) took home $306 893 (R4.3m) for his efforts, Charl Schwartzel finished T19 on 2-over to take home $125 363 (R1.7m).

Christiaan Bezuidenout, who was tied for 31st, earned $71 030 (R1m), while Dylan Frittelli banked $32 351 (R461 685) after finishing tied for 46th performance.

On his major debut, Wilco Nienaber finished tied for 68th and walked away with $22 814 (R325 582).