Brooks Koepka has moved into the world’s top 10 golfers following his win at the US Open on Sunday with little joy from a South African perspective this week.
Koepka put on a masterful display in tough conditions on Sunday at Erin Hills as he ran hot down the stretch to equal the lowest score in relation to par in the tournament’s history.
The rewards for Koepka are massive. Not only is he $2.16-million richer but the 27-year-old was also rewarded with a 12 spot jump in the latest rankings. His tally of -16 was four shots ahead of lefty Brian Harman, who moved from 50 to 27 this week, and now the world’s second best player in Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who got himself into contention with a Sunday 66.
The US Open was a largely forgettable experience for many of the world’s best players as well as South Africans, with all five who made the cut playing level or over par on Sunday. One South African who wasn’t around this weekend was Charl Schwartzel and as a result he moves down three spots to 19th.
Louis Oosthuizen remains second from a Saffa perspective but also felt the pinch of a slow weekend as he dropped to 23rd place while Branden Grace’s +5 final round saw him drop down the leaderboard and down the rankings – he is now 33rd in the world.
Last week’s winner in Austria, Dylan Frittelli did not tee it up this week but moved up one spot with Brandon Stone the fifth and final player inside the top 100. Stone made the cut for the first time at a Major and saw him jump five spots to 86th.
Dustin Johnson retains a large lead at the top of the rankings ahead of Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day. Sergio Garcia continues his rankings yo-yo’ing coming back into fifth with Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson behind him. Rounding out the top ten are Alex Noren and Rickie Fowler with the 117th US Open winner in 10th.
South African top 10:
Charl Schwartzel – 19
Louis Oosthuizen – 23
Branden Grace –33
Dylan Fritelli – 75
Brandon Stone – 86
Dean Burmester – 102
Richard Sterne – 115
Jaco Van Zyl – 125
George Coetzee – 133
Thomas Aiken – 175
Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
