Daniel van Tonder edged up one place on the Official World Golf Ranking to 154th this week in a quiet week for South Africans on the list in the absence of any action on the Sunshine Tour and on the European Tour.
Van Tonder started the year in 152nd, and, with the inactivity he’s sat through so far, had slipped to 155th last week. The 29-year-old who won four times on the Sunshine Tour between the end of August and the end of October last year as the tour got back into action after the COVID-19 enforced lay-off.
After his fourth win last October, in the Investec Royal Swazi Open at Sun City, he ascended to a career-high of 147th, and that will give him a sense of belonging as he tees it up in the first World Golf Championships tournament of 2021, the WGC-Workday Championship at the Concession in Florida in the United States.
He is the 10th-best South African in the Official World Golf Ranking list this week, and was one of two in the South African top 10 to climb. The other was Shaun Norris, who had a substantial five-place rise to 111th without using a club in anger.
Louis Oosthuizen remains unchanged in 26th as South Africa’s highest ranked golfer, with Christiaan Bezuidenhout also in the same position as last week in 36th.
Erik van Rooyen, Dylan Frittelli, George Coetzee, Garrick Higgo, Brandon Stone and Branden Grace make up the rest of the South African top 10, and they all dropped between one and three positions.
Wilco Nienaber remains the South African number 11. He’s in 161st this week, seven spots behind Van Tonder. That’s one down from last week, and in the same position in which he began the year.
