Nienaber rockets 138 places up Official World Golf Ranking list

Feb 18, 2025 | Featured, Features, Rankings

For the first time in a long time, Wilco Nienaber looked the complete package with his victory in the NTT Data Pro-Am at Fancourt, and he was rewarded with a 138-place jump on the latest Official World Golf Ranking list published this week.

While the full statistics for his winning 27-under-par total are not readily available, any 72-hole card which has just a single bogey on it is impressive, especially when it’s Nienaber’s card.

And, as impressive as any of the pyrotechnics from the first three rounds of the Sunshine Tour and HotelPlanner Tour co-sanctioned tournament, which saw him make two eagles and 24 birdies, was the composed final round when he calmly took his pars and made two easy birdies to ensure his victory from a six-stroke margin he held after 54 holes.

His big jump in the official rankings is not enough to get him close to his career-best ranking of 131^st, but more play which marries his explosive distance with the good short game and putting he displayed last week – as well as the calmness under pressure – will surely see the rise on the rankings continue.

On the subject of rising up the ranks: Jean-Paul Strydom, who finished second behind Nienaber with a brilliant closing 66, rocked nearly 1,000 places up the official list. He rose to 692^nd, up 965 places from 1,648^th. And Jacques Blaauw, who could, and should, have finished second, climbed 89 places from 644^th to 555^th.

South Africa’s top-ranked golfer remains Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who was unchanged in 51^st after his share of 39^th in the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational.

South Africa’s top 25: