BC’s Jared du Toit Begins His 12th Consecutive Week at the No. 1 Ranked Canadian
Adam Hadwin picked up 32 spots in the world rankings after coming within five strokes of his first career PGA Tour victory. The Abbotsford, B.C., golfer finished tied for sixth at the PGA’s CareerBuilder Challenge after beginning the final round in third, three back of leader and eventual champion Jason Dufner. Three straight birdies to close out the front nine put Hadwin in a tie for the lead with Dufner, who then rallied for three birdies of his own to reclaim the lead. Hadwin went in the other direction with three bogeys which all but spelled the end of his chances for victory. The result was good for 7.20 world ranking points, his first points paying finish since the Frys.com Open last fall. It was also his best world ranking result since finishing tied for fifth at the Crowne Plaza event last May. The $194,300 paycheque was the biggest of his two-year PGA career.
Other Notable Results
No. 1 David Hearn (NC in world ranking) missed the cut at the PGA’s CareerBuilder Challenge – his first missed cut in his last six tournaments. No. 2 Graham DeLaet (-1) finished tied for 42nd at the PGA’s CareerBuilder Challenge; it was his second-straight world ranking points-paying finish of year, while No. 4 Nick Taylor (-4) missed the cut.
Mike Weir, who has fallen to No. 15 in the Canadian rankings, missed the cut at the European Tour event in Abu Dhabi. It was his first European Tour start since October 2012 and his first competitive start since announcing an “indefinite leave of absence” last July. Weir has four PGA Tour starts remaining on a major medical exemption to earn $669,670 in order to regain full status. Failing that, he also has a minor medical exemption that provides him four additional Tour starts to try and regain full status.
David Rose of West Vancouver, B.C., who is the final Canadian ranked in the Official World Golf Rankings, captured medalist honours at the PGA Tour Latinoamérica Q-School. His two-stroke victory gives him full status on the predominantly South American Tour in 2016. He was the second Canadian player in as many weeks to win a Q-School tournament on the Tour following Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Corey Conner’s performance last week.
On the women’s side, Canada’s top-ranked golfer Brooke Henderson slipped one spot in the world rankings to No. 18 as fellow teen and LPGA Tour member Minjee Lee moved past her. Alena Sharp (+4), Augusta James (+1) and Maude-Aimée Leblanc (+2) were the only players in the Top-10 to pick up spots over the past seven days.
Outside the Top-10, Anne-Catherine Tanguay made the biggest gain, picking up three places in the world rankings. The Quebec native recently picked up the win at the National Women’s Golf Association event in Florida, although the tour is not among the counting events towards the rankings. The performance should give Tanguay some additional confidence as she will have conditional status on the LPGA Tour and full status on the developmental Symetra Tour this season.
There were no significant changes in the men’s amateur rankings this past week. Jared du Toit begins his 12th consecutive week at the No. 1 ranked Canadian. Austin James, ranked No. 5, made the biggest gain among the Top-10 by picking up nine places in the world rankings. Alistair Docherty and Alastair Tidcombe each gained six places while Joey Savoie moved up five spots.
Biggest Move
Golf Canada Development Squad member Charles-Éric Bélanger gained 509 places over the past seven days. Following a successful 2015 campaign that included victories at the Canadian Junior Boys Championship and the Quebec Junior Provincial Match-Play Championship, the Québec teen recently finished tied for 40th at the South American Amateur Championship.
Among Canada’s top-ranked female amateurs, eight of the Top-10 made gains over the past week. National Team member Maddie Szeryk begins her 32nd straight week in the No. 1 position. No. 10 Sabrine Garrison and No. 7 Jessica Ip gained eight and six places respectively in the world rankings. Only Anica Yoo and Jaclyn Lee lost ground.
Biggest Move
Hannah Lee of Surrey, B.C., gained 98 spots over the past week. The member of Golf Canada’s Development Squad recently finished in a six-way tie for 22nd at the South American Amateur Championship alongside teammate Grace St-Germain.
MEN’S TOP-10
Click here for Men’s Official World Golf Rankings.
WOMEN’S TOP-10
Click here for full Women’s Rolex World Rankings.
MEN’S AMATEUR TOP-10
WOMEN’S AMATEUR TOP-10
Complete World Amateur Golf Rankings can be found here.