Justin Harding finished fourth at the Dubai Desert Classic. Photo: Karim Sahib/AFP
Johannesburg – South Africa’s Justin Harding banked a cool R4.5m and rose 21 spots to 102nd in the world rankings, following his fourth place finish in the Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club on Sunday.
Harding had led for most of the tournament including by two at the end of round three, before a costly triple bogey during his four-over final round meant he had to settle for tied fourth place on eight-under for the week.
In fact, if Harding had made a three on that costly 11th hole instead of six he would have finished in a tie for third and banked R6.2m – R1.7m more than he did in the end.
Erik van Rooyen, meanwhile, started the day three behind Harding and finished tied fourth alongside his countryman. For Van Rooyen, the result meant he rose three spots to 60th in the world rankings.
ALSO READ: SA’s Harding holds two-shot lead ahead of McIlroy in Dubai
Van Rooyen, remains the third-ranked SA player in the world.
Louis Oosthuizen, who has not teed it up in 2022 yet, is the top-ranked SA player on the globe by some margin at 12th in the world. Christiaan Bezuidenhout is second in 55th place, dropping three places from last week.
Hole out eagle! 🤯@JustinHarding60 moves to -11 and leads by three. #SlyncDDC | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/MDz25gcKaQ
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 28, 2022
Garrick Higgo, who finished in a tie for 47th in Dubai, has dropped two positions to 67th. Dean Burmester also went down two places to 71st in the world.
Shaun Norris who missed the cut at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final at Sun City over the weekend, also dropped two places to 73rd.
Yet another player from the Rainbow Nation to drop two positions this week was SA Open champion Daniel van Tonder as he settled in 77th place.
Branden Grace, the former world number 10, is ranked 79th this week and completes the eight SA players in the top-100. Harding, however, will be looking to build on his result in Dubai and make it nine SA players in the top-100 soon.
@Golfhackno1
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