Surrey's Svensson Makes Biggest Net Gain For Canadians In 2015 OWGR
Weekly Top-10 Rankings Fo Week of January 4, 2016
courtesy Golf Canada
In the first week of the new 2016 world rankings, Justin Shin moved past Canadian Masters champion Mike Weir and into No. 11 in the Canadian rankings. That was the only significant change among the top 20 pros in Canada as the new golf season gets set to tee off.
Over the Christmas break, Lindsay Renolds climbed from No. 19 up to No. 15 in the Canadian rankings, gaining 80 places in the world after concluding the 2015 Asian Tour schedule with a 10th place finish in the Philippines.
The 2015 golf season was a very good year for David Hearn, as a final review of the world rankings show. The Brantford, Ont. golfer gained 64.81 world ranking points last year, by far the biggest gain among Canadian pros. However, the net gain for Canada’s No. 1 ranked golfer over the course of a year was just 2.14 points.
Adam Svensson, the B.C. golfer who turned pro midway through last year, made the biggest net gain in 2015, picking up 10.90 points. Svensson will start 2016 as a full-fledged member of the Web.com Tour as he continues his quest to land on the PGA Tour.
Another former Canadian amateur who turned pro, Taylor Pendrith, was hot on Svensson’s heels when it came to a net gain in the world rankings, chalking up 9.82 points.
Eugene Wong (8.94 points), Justin Shin (7.28 points), Wilson Bateman (6.89 points) and Albin Choi (6.73 points) were also among the leaders when it came to net gains in the world rankings over the course of 2015.
In the men’s amateur ranks, there were some slight adjustments within the Top-10. Branson Ferrier reclaimed the No. 3 ranking in Canada from Eric Banks while over the Christmas break, Alistair Docherty and Alastair Tidcombe swapped positions seven and eight.
Nicholas Ross joins the Top-20, slotting in at No. 18, after being the highest ranked Canadian at the prestigious South Beach International Amateur event. The reigning Toronto Star Amateur champion and the son of former Golf Canada director Stephen Ross finished in a tie for 24th at the pre-Christmas tournament which featured a number of other Canadian amateurs in the field.
On the women’s side, Brooke Henderson begins the year as the No. 1 ranked female golfer in Canada. The 18-year-old will embark on her first full rookie season on the LPGA Tour after starting last year without status on any tour of significance. Over the holidays, Henderson was honoured as The Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year and the Golf Journalists Association of Canada Female Player of the Year. Henderson’s goal in 2016 is to break into the Top-10 of the world rankings (she starts the year No. 17) and capture a medal for Canada at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Brazil.
For the women’s amateurs, Vanessa Ha assumed the No. 6 ranking in Canada after National Team member Naomi Ko slipped 34 spots in the world rankings. Fellow National Team member Jaclyn Lee slipped down to No. 10 in the Canadian rankings.
Click here for Men’s Official World Golf Rankings.
Click here for full Women’s Rolex World Rankings.
Complete World Amateur Golf Rankings can be found here.