Grace moved up nine spots to 56th to be the only South African inside the top 100 of the list to actually improve his position, as Louis Oosthuizen remained the top-ranked South African at seventh. Oosthuizen was unchanged despite withdrawing from the Wyndham Championship to take a break ahead of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup three-tournament finale which gets underway this week.

Grace’s form has been on the rise and it’s showing in the rankings: He started the year in 126th spot, and he won in Puerto Rico to kickstart a climb back up the rankings towards the kind of position he is capable of occupying consistently, and which will give him access to the major championships where he has missed out this year.

His climb assured him of a spot in the play-offs, while Oosthuizen, Garrick Higgo, Erik van Rooyen and Dylan Frittelli will be the other South Africans in the first event, the Northern Trust, and the field will be cut to 70 for the BMW Championship the following week.

Saffas inside the World’s top 100

7 – Louis Oosthuizen
44 – Garrick Higgo – 44
48 – Christiaan Bezuidenhout
56 – Branden Grace
76 – Charl Schwartzel
79 – Erik van Rooyen
82 – Dylan Frittelli
92 – Justin Harding
96 – Danie van Tonder

Photo: William Howard/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

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A late bogey derailed Oosthuizen’s bid for his first win on US soil but the result was enough to see him move up seven places in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Despite struggling with his play tee to green, Oosthuizen will be pleased with his short-game efforts this week as he looks to build up some momentum with the Masters a few weeks away.

– JP Strydom rose to 255th in the world, up from 451, after his Serengeti win

The South African will be consoled by his cheque worth $589 600 – or R8 540 031 – which is enough to push him past the $1-million mark early into the season.

A share of 37th place earned Dylan Frittelli a cash injection of R436 706 as he looks to retain his card in his rookie season on the PGA TOUR. The South African-born US educated golfer rose one place to 91st in the latest rankings and is nine places better than Charl Schwartzel, who missed the cut this week.

Between Oosthuizen in 20th and Frittelli in 91st, Branden Grace is 43nd (no change despite a missed cut at Innisbrook) and Justin Harding is now 49th (down one place after sitting out the Maybank Championship).

Harding will feature alongside the best 64 players in the world this week when the PGA TOUR heads to Texas and Austin Country Club for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

The Stellenbosch star is one of 10 debutants in the field this week while Rory McIlroy, fresh off victory at THE PLAYERS Championship, seeks to extend his hot streak with a second Match Play crown.

Dustin Johnson, who suffered a rare final round slump this week, goes after back-to-back World Golf Championships titles but will face a number of former champions of the event including Tiger Woods, two-time winner Jason Day and defending champion Bubba Watson.

Woods is a three-time Match Play champ and returns for the first time since 2013. England’s Justin Rose is another that makes a reappearance here which goes to show what kind of field Harding has played his way into.

The draw will be confirmed later on Monday.

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IN PICS: Charl loses it with slow play peer

The American, who won his sixth WGC title in Mexico two weeks ago, returns to the top for the first time since finishing third at FedExCup-ending Tour Championship with Justin Rose also absent from the PGA TOUR this week.

The rankings yo-yo is set to continue through the rest of the season with Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka both having a good shot at displacing DJ after this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Rose needs to finish eighth or better while Koepka, runner-up this week, must win to move from third to first.

Rickie Fowler, who like Koepka finished one short of Keith Mitchell (162 to 68th), caused a reshuffle in the top 10 as he moved up to seventh behind Rory McIlroy.

Xander Schaufele and Jon Rahm each dropped a place and moved to eighth and ninth respectively with Francesco Molinari remaining in 10th.

Louis Oosthuizen did not play this week but moved back to his 2019 starting position after a two-place climb to 25th. Another Saffa not in acton this week, Branden Grace, remains in 41st place and SA’s second highest ranked player.

Richard Sterne moved past Brandon Stone as the seventh highest ranked Saffa after Stone failed to build on a solid 36-hole total at the Oman Open.

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A win by any margin would have seen South Africa overtake England in fourth position in the rankings. England hung on for a one-point victory, though, and as a result remain fourth, while the Boks stay fifth.

The Springboks lost 0.48 of a rating point and are now just 0.17 of a point ahead of the Wallabies, who rose to sixth following Scotland’s defeat to Wales.

Scotland were docked 0.41 of a point and Wales gained 0.41 after their Test in Cardiff.

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World Rugby rankings:

1. New Zealand 92.96
2. Ireland 90.12
3. Wales 86.35
4. England 86.16
5. South Africa 83.03
6. Australia 82.86
7. Scotland 82.61
8. France 79.10
9. Argentina 78.01
10. Fiji 76.54

Full rankings
How the rankings work

Photo: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA

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Norris jumped to a career-best 93rd – up 33 from his position last week – in the world after finishing two shots behind Yuki Inamori at the Yokohama Country Club.

The 36-year-old joins Louis Oosthuizen (down one place to 37th), Branden Grace (down one place to 47th), Charl Schwartzel (down two places to 67th), Dylan Frittelli (down three places to 73rd) and Justin Harding (up two places 91st) in the top 100 with Brandon Stone dropping out after missing the cut at the British Masters.

Oosthuizen dropped a spot despite securing a top-five finish at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia as he works his way towards the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City in November.

Norris adds his runner-up finish – which saw him add R2.84-million to his bank account – to four other top 10s on the Japan Tour this year where he occupies fourth spot on the moneylist.

There was no change in the world’s top 10, which sees Dustin Johnson remain in first place ahead of Justin Rose and 2017-18 Player of the Year Brooks Koepka.

Photo: Luke Walker/Gallo Images

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The Springboks have stayed in fifth place after their 23-12 victory over the Wallabies earned them a fraction over six-tenths of a rating point, with the Wallabies stuck in seventh. The Springboks have, however, closed the gap on England to 1.72 ranking points.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s 35-17 win against Argentina at the Velez Sarsfield stadium allowed them to clinch their third successive Rugby Championship title and maintain a lead over Ireland at the top of the rankings.

World Rugby rankings (top 10):

1. New Zealand 92.52
2. Ireland 90.12
3. Wales 85.94
4. England 85.68
5. South Africa 83.96
6. Scotland 83.02
7. Australia 81.84
8. France 79.10
9. Argentina 79.02
10. Fiji 76.54

Full rankings


How the rankings work

Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images

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Rose finished in a share of fourth, enough to win the $10-million FedEx Cup winner’s cheque, but one behind Johnson.

‘There were a lot of scenarios at play this week and that’s what the beauty of this format is,’ said Rose. ‘I think obviously for me this year it rewarded consistent golf.

‘For me, I was trying to do my best to win this golf tournament and scoop the double jackpot.

‘But far and away, being next to this trophy is something I’m very, very proud of, and it was -definitely with five, six holes to play, it was pretty precarious.

‘I was in a great position around the turn, and then things just got tricky out there.’

Johnson, who slipped to third in the rankings heading into the finale at East Lake, enjoyed a 64 week stay at the top before Justin Thomas replaced him in May.

It took four weeks for DJ to return to the top where he stayed for another 13 until Rose joined the elite group of players, now 22 in total, to have summited the golf world.

‘No, it doesn’t really matter and while I wanted to make back to the top, I would have hit it the same way,’ said Johnson.

Tiger Woods moved up eight places to 13th while Louis Oosthuizen remains SA’s best in 36, down one place after failing to progress into the final FedExCup playoff event.

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Following their 23-18 win over the Springboks, the Wallabies gained 0.49 of a rating point (83.96 to 84.45), which takes them within 1.22 of the fourth-ranked England.

South Africa were deducted 0.49 of point (81.84 to 81.35). There are now just 2.25 points between the Springboks and France.

World Rugby rankings (Top 10):

1. New Zealand 94.52
2. Ireland 90.12
3. Wales 85.94
4. England 85.68
5. Australia 84.45
6. Scotland 83.02
7. South Africa 81.35
8. France 79.10
9. Argentina 77.02
10. Fiji 76.54
Full rankings
How the rankings work

Photo: Johan Pretorius/Gallo Images

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England were ranked third – behind the All Blacks and Ireland – before this clash, but a fourth straight Test loss cost Eddie Jones’ side 1.05 rating points (86.23 to 85.19).

By contrast, the Boks gained 1.05 rating points for their come-from-behind effort (82.77 to 83.81), but it is not enough to overtake Scotland and Wales for a place in the top five.

Australia’s 18-9 win against Ireland boosted their rating points by 1.06, which sees them climb to third in the rankings, above England. Ireland were deducted 1.06 after the loss but remain in second position.

Argentina’s 23-10 defeat to Wales sees them relinquish ninth place to Fiji. The Pumas are now 0.39 behind Fiji in the rankings.

World Rugby rankings (Top 10):

1. New Zealand 93.99
2. Ireland 88.05
3. Australia 86.56
4. England 85.19
5. Wales 85.13
6. Scotland 83.83
7. South Africa 83.81
8. France 79.10
9. Fiji 77.93
10. Argentina 77.54

Full rankings


How the rankings work

Photo: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

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The Springboks were ranked sixth before this one-off Test, sandwiched between fifth-placed Scotland and Wales in seventh.

However, the two-point loss to Wales sees the Springboks docked 1.04 rating points from 83.81 to 82.77 and relegated to seventh.

Wales gained a 1.04 points increase, enough to climb two places from seventh to fifth, above South Africa and Scotland.

The rest of the top 10 remain unchanged.

World Rugby rankings (Top 10):

1. New Zealand 93.99
2. Ireland 89.11
3. England 86.23
4. Australia 85.49
5. Wales 84.45
6. Scotland 83.83
7. South Africa 82.77
8. France 79.10
9. Argentina 78.22
10. Fiji 77.93

Full rankings


How the rankings work

Photo: Scott Taetsch/Gallo Images

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