Christiaan Bezuidenhout endured a disappointing final round in the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage at the weekend, and his share of 33^rd saw him slip to 39^th on the Official World Golf Ranking.

It was a quiet week for South African players on the list, as nine of the top 10 local players lost ground in the rankings, with only Garrick Higgo climbing – to 110^th – after a fourth-pace finish in the European Tour’s Austrian Golf Open.

Bezuidenhout was never going to win on the PGA Tour this week, as veteran Stewart Cink led wire-to-wire for his victory, but a double-bogey six on the par-four 13^th saw Bezuidenhout lose ground to the rest of the field, and cost him a possible top-20 finish. That would probably have kept him from slipping down the rankings.

Louis Oosthuizen was not playing last week, and he has slipped to 33^rd in the world, although he remains the top-ranked South African.

Bezuidenhout remains the second-best South African, with Erik van Rooyen third as he dropped three places to 67^th. Dylan Frittelli also dropped three positions to 71^st, and Daniel van Tonder, who gets back into action on home soil this week in the Limpopo Championship, the fifth-best South African, down five places in 80^th.

Branden Grace in 83^rd, George Coetzee in 94^th and Brandon Stone in 98^th make up the rest of the eight South Africans inside the top 100, with Higgo just outside that mark. Shaun Norris in 125^th comes in at number 10, and he gets back into action on the Japan Golf Tour next week.

South Africa’s top 10:

1. Louis Oosthuizen 33 (down 2)
2. Christiaan Bezuidenhout 39 (down 1)
3. Erik van Rooyen 67 (down 3)
4. Dylan Frittelli 71 (down 3)
5. Daniel van Tonder 80 (down 5)
6. Branden Grace 83 (down 3)
7. George Coetzee 94 (down 6)
8. Brandon Stone 97 (down 4)
9. Garrick Higgo 110 (up 7)
10. Shaun Norris 125 (down 5)