Dylan Frittelli continued his march into the top 50 of the World Golf Ranking over the weekend and he gets a chance to climb even higher at this week’s Maybank Championship in Malaysia starting on Thursday.
His share of sixth in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic last week behind winner Li Haotong of China has elevated him to 47th from his 51st spot of last week, and, with the near certainty of picking up points in Kuala Lumpur – he did not play the tournament last year – he should move closer to that coveted invitation to the Masters in April. Those players inside the top 50 at the end of the week before the Masters not already invited will get a chance to play the year’s first major.
Since winning the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in December last year for his second European Tour title, Frittelli has been steadily climbing back into contention with finishes in 42nd place at the Joburg Open, 20th at the BMW SA Open, 19th at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, and then sixth at the weekend.
He is one of four South Africans currently in the world’s top 50. Branden Grace climbed to 27th, Louis Oosthuizen slipped to 29th and Charl Schwartzel dropped to 38th.
Frittelli is one of nine South Africans in the field in Malaysia. The others are Haydn Porteous, Dean Burmester, Brandon Stone, Shaun Norris, Scott Vincent, Adilson Da Silva, Keith Horne and Jbe’ Kruger. - African News Agency (ANA)
