HARARE — Jake Roos got a few of them when he won last month, and, as the Sunshine Tour swings into Harare for the R1.5-million Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open this week, he’ll want more Official World Golf Ranking points.
Roos’ victory brought him the lion’s share of the R500 000 purse for the Platinum Classic and the first world ranking points ever allocated to a 54-hole event as the Sunshine Tour’s ‘winter’ events have been recognised by the Official World Golf Rankings body.
Although it was only four points for a win — and 2.4 for second, 1.6 for third and 1.2 for fourth — the international recognition is important for the players and the Sunshine Tour, and it also boosted Roos’ world ranking by 135 positions from 655th to 520th.
And while that not may seem like much when compatriots Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel are enjoying life inside the world’s top 20, the points are of significance to players like Roos who have gambled with playing abroad and battled to succeed.
Defending Zimbabwe Open champion Theunis Spangenberg got himself a haul of 14 points from the event last year, and leapt over 500 places on the Official World Golf Rankings. — SuperGolf
