Jet-setting Frittelli soars up rankings

South Africa’s Dylan Frittelli (above) has rocketed to 55th in the latest world golf rankings released yesterday.

The 27-year-old won his second European Tour event on Sunday at the Mauritius Open – where he beat India’s Arjun Atwal on the first play-off hole.

After two events in the 2018 Race to Dubai moneylist, Frittelli finds himself in second place following his victory. He moved up 12 places from 67th to achieve his lofty ranking just outside the top50 in the world.

Frittelli’s play in the last month has been phenomenal after dropping to 103rd in the world at the end of October. His strong play included a second-place finish at the Turkish Airlines Open at the beginning of November, before a share of fourth at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Frittelli notched up his maiden European Tour win in June at the Lyoness Open in Austria to break into the top-80 in the world for the first time.

He finished the 2017 European Tour season in 19th on the Race to Dubai moneylist, which also earned him the European Tour Graduate-of-the-Year. The Graduate-of-the-Year trophy is awarded to the top-ranked player to have graduated from the European Challenge Tour the previous year and, while England’s Jordan Smith led the way for most of 2017, it was Frittelli’s performances in the season-ending Rolex Series tournaments which ultimately secured him the honour.

And Frittelli’s 2017 campaign is not over yet, as he set his sights on this week’s Joburg Open, which is hosted by Randpark.

“Hopefully I’ll be strong and be in contention at the weekend again,” he said after his win in Mauritius.

“This is my fifth week and I’ve been to Turkey, South Africa, Dubai and Hong Kong,” he said. “I have my fitness trainer Garth Milne with me and he has kept me fit and strong.” – ANA