Lawrence starts new year with top 50 in his sights

Jan 8, 2024 | Featured, Rankings

Thriston Lawrence started 2024 in 81^st place on the Official World Golf Ranking list as he heads to next week’s first event on the DP World Tour for the year, and he will be eyeing a good start to push him towards the top 50 on the official rankings list.

It was a good year for Lawrence in 2023, and, although he didn’t reach his career-high ranking of 63^rd which he achieved shortly after winning the 2022 Investec South African Open Championship, he knows that the kind of consistency he achieved on the DP World Tour in 2023 will go a long way towards taking to what will be pretty exalted territory.

He’s certainly well aware that a fast start will get him towards that kind of goal quickly, and, should he reach that magical 50^th position or higher by the week prior to the Masters, he’ll be able to play in the first major championship of the year which tees off at Augusta National on April 11.

In the meantime, Dean Burmester remains South Africa’s top-ranked golfer on the official list, but that is likely to be short-lived for the LIV Golf player unless he manages to play in some Asian Tour or DP World Tour tournaments – or unless LIV Golf manages to attract Official World Golf Ranking points. That looks unlikely in current conditions, and Burmester’s 72^nd place will probably be his highest of the year.

Erik van Rooyen started his PGA Tour season with a four-place bump up the rankings with his share of 22^nd in The Sentry in Hawaii. He moved to 83^rd, and he already has his invitation to Augusta National sewn up following his emotional win in the World Wide Technology Championship last year.

South Africa’s top 20: