Oosthuizen banks close to R10 million, into world’s top 10

Louis Oosthuizen will not be inconsolable, but he will certainly take heart after his third-place finish in the Open Championship at the weekend from the fact that he has risen inside the top 10 on the Official World Golf Ranking.

It is the first time he has been inside the top 10 since 2013, and it is reward for a year in the major championships which, while frustrating, is almost unbelievable in its consistency.

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After a share of 26^th in the Masters in April, he has finished in a share of second in the PGA Championship behind Phil Mickelson, second alone in the US Open behind world number one Jon Rahm, and in a share of third on Sunday in the Open behind Collin Morikawa.

And, he banked a cool R9.9 million for his week’s work.

The other big beneficiary of a great performance in the Open was Dylan Frittelli. He was last into the field at the expense of the unfortunate Louis de Jager, and he took his chance with relish as he finished fifth to climb 28 places in the rankings inside the top 100 to 78^th. That makes him the fifth-ranked South African behind Oosthuizen, Garrick Higgo, who was down three in 43^rd. Christiaan Bezuidenhout, down one in 46^th, and Branden Grace, down one in 63^rd.

Frittelli banked R7 million for the week.

Daniel van Tonder and Dean Burmester were both rewarded for good Open debuts with two-place climbs to 85^th and 93^rd respectively. Also benefitting from strong Open showings were Justin Harding, up 12 places to 114^th and JC Ritchie who was up 17 places to 216^th.

Oliver Bekker came third in the Challenge Tour’s Euram Bank Open in Austria, and he was up 38 places to 276^th.

South Africa’s top 10

1.       Louis Oosthuizen 9 (up 4)

2.       Garrick Higgo 43 (down 3)

3.       Christiaan Bezuidenhout 46 (down 1)

4.       Branden Grace 63 (down 1)

5.       Dylan Frittelli 78 (up 28)

6.       Daniel van Tonder 85 (up 2)

7.       Dean Burmester 93 (up 2)

8.       Charl Schwartzel 99 (unchanged)

9.       Erik van Rooyen 102 (down 6)

10.   Brandon Stone 108 (down 6)

• Courtesy satourgolf.co.za