Johnson Wins Individual Title, and NDSU Wins the Team at Torrey Pines
March 27, 2024
Erik Van Rooyen has slipped from No. 46 in the Official World Golf Rankings two weeks ago to No. 50 this week. But that is still good enough -- barely -- to get the former University of Minnesota star from South Africa into the WGC-Mexico Championship in two weeks.
Also in the field for the WGC-Mexico, which will be played at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Naucalpan, Mexico, is Jordan Spieth. The three-time major champion and former World No. 1 shot a 5-under-par 67 on Sunday in the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and moved up into a tie for ninth place. That lifted him to No. 49 in the OWGR.
Just missing the top 50 was five-time major champ Phil Mickelson. He needed to birdie on the iconic final hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links to tie Kevin Streelman for second place (behind Nick Taylor) and move into the top 50, but he missed an 8-footer and had to settle for par. As a result, he is No. 55 in the newest OWGR.
Only the top 50 from the OWGR get into WGC-Mexico.
Mickelson will have one more chance to make the WGC field. He is signed up to play this week in the Genesis Invitational at another iconic West Coast course, The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Anyone in the OWGR top 50 after that will also get into the WGC-Mexico field.
Minnesotans or players with Minnesota connections who are listed in the Official World Golf Rankings
Rank Player (Prev. Rank) From Final 2019 Rank Highest Career Ranking (Date)
50. Erik Van Rooyen (46), South Africa 49* 46 (2020)
144. Tom Hoge (142), Fargo 240 142 (2020)
154 Troy Merritt (148), Spring Lake Park 140 82 (2016)
708. Charlie Danielson (703), Osceola 692 630 (2019)
836. Brady Schnell (805), Milford, Iowa 752 291 (2018)
1534. Tim Herron (1487), Wayzata 1425 29 (1999)
1542. Justin Doeden (1540), Lakeville South 1548 1447 (2019)
1559. Ben Polland (1505), Spring Lake Park 1428 747 (2018)
* -- The top 50 players from the final 2019 rankings have earned invitations to the 2020 Masters, and the top 50 players from the current rankings have qualified to play in the WGC-Mexico Championship, Feb. 20-23, at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Naucalpan, Mexico.
Others
T2082. Tom Lehman (T2080), Alexandria T2074 1 (1997)
T2082. Cameron Beckman (T2080), Burnsville T2074 75 (2002)
T2082. Neil Johnson (T2080), River Falls T2074 1147 (2004)
T2082. Andre Metzger (2080), Sioux Falls T2074 1443 (2012)
T2082. Donald Constable (T2080), MInnetonka T2074 1491 (2013)
T2082. Derek Chang (2080), Atlanta T2074 1558 (2015)
T2082. Robert Bell (T2080), Pierz T2074 1584 (2015)
T2082. Andrew McCain (T2080), Minneapolis/Nashville T2074 1925 (2018)
T2082. Nick Heinen, Edmond (T2080), Okla. T2074 1986 (2018)
T2082. Craig Brischke (T280), Madison, Wis. T2074 T2061 (2019)
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