Lahiri highest ranked Indian in World Golf Rankings

Anirban-Lahiri-TGC-Rd-4New Delhi: A tied-fourth finish in the Thailand Golf Championship helped India's Anirban Lahiri to move up to the 111th position in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) while Shiv Kapur (143rd) and Ganganjeet Bhullar (148th) also made it to the list of top 200.


Meanwhile, a total of 13 Asian Tour members currently occupy the top-200 on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) with Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand leading the way in 46th position.


Thongchai, a three-time Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, ensured that he finished the year inside the top-50 bracket following his tied 10th result at the star-studded Thailand Golf Championship on Sunday.


The Thai was ranked 80th at the end of 2012 but made huge strides on the OWGR after claiming nine top-10s around the globe including two runner-up finishes at the BMW Masters in October and Volvo World Match Play Championship in May.


By finishing inside the top-50 in the world at the end 2013, Thongchai earned the opportunity to play at the Masters Tournament in April next year, his third appearance in the year’s first Major event.


Exciting Thai talent Kiradech Aphibarnrat, the current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader, is ranked 59th in the world courtesy of his victory at the Maybank Malaysian Open in March.


He also notched seven other top-10s including a commendable tied third finish at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia which is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and PGA Tour, as well as a tied fifth result at the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf in Australia.


Liang Wen-chong of China, winner of the Resorts World Manila Masters last month, is ranked 104th in the world followed by Anirban Lahiri of India, who moved up to 111th position after finishing tied fourth at the Thailand Golf Championship.


Meanwhile Scott Hend of Australia, winner of three Asian Tour titles in 2013, is placed 123rd while Asian Tour honorary members K.J. Choi of Korea and Vijay Singh of Fiji occupy 134th and 135th positions respectively.


Among the other Asian Tour players ranked inside the top-200 include Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant (142nd), Shiv Kapur of India (143rd), Gaganjeet Bhullar of India (148th), winner of the Indonesia Open, Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand (160th), Japanese Masanori Kobayashi (163rd) and Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh (166th).


Another notable name who made a giant leap on the OWGR is Nicholas Fung of Malaysia who moved up from 1416th to 235th in a span of 12 months after notching 33.24 world ranking points courtesy of his superb performances on the Asian Tour and Asian Development Tour (ADT).


He posted two top-five results on the region’s premier Tour which is celebrating its milestone 10th season in 2013, won one ADT event and secured five other top-five results on the fledging ADT.


The OWGR points are crucial for golfers to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as the elite 60-man field will be decided based on the world rankings.


With the inaugural EurAsia Cup presented by DRB-HICOM looming, the Asian Tour players will also jostle for a spot in Team Asia, which is captained by Thongchai, through the Order of Merit or their rankings on the OWGR.


The Ryder Cup style event, played at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur from March 27 to 29 in 2014, will see the leading four available Asian players from the final 2013 Asian Tour Order of Merit, the leading three available Asian players invited on the basis of their OWGR, the playing captain and two captain’s picks qualifying for Team Asia.