South African Justin Harding broke into the world’s top-100 for the first time in his career after claiming his second win in three weeks on the Asian Tour at the US$500,000 Royal Cup on Sunday.
The red-hot Harding climbed up 28 spots to a career-best 99th place on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) following his commanding six-shot victory, which marked the largest winning margin on the Asian Tour this season, at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club Thailand.
Harding, who won the Bank BRI Indonesia Open where he played on a sponsor’s invite three weeks ago, became the first player to win back-to-back titles on the region’s premier Tour since 2011 following his victory in Thailand. The 32-year-old South African is also the first player on Tour to win twice in his first two starts in Asia.
Playing in his first professional tournament in Thailand, Harding stamped his authority early at the Royal Cup with a pair of six-under-par 64s that gave him a three-shot lead going into the weekend rounds.
What a run @JustinHarding60! Congratulations on yet another @asiantourgolf victory and breaking into the World Top 100 is outstanding and well deserved.
“It was a surprise two weeks ago, but I have been playing nicely recently,” said Harding, who took home a winner’s prize purse of US$90,000 and received a total of 14 OWGR points following his Thai debut.
He added: “I’m enjoying this run right now. The courses out here in Asia allow me to play strategically and I’m benefitting from it. I don’t find that I am trying too hard and I’m just letting it come to me.”
Prior to his breakthrough in Indonesia, Harding has also enjoyed successful exploits on the Sunshine Tour, where he leads the Order of Merit following a hot streak of two wins and three top-10s in his last five starts. He had started the season in 712nd place on the OWGR.
With a second Asian Tour victory in the bag, Harding moved from 32nd to 13th place on the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings, led by India’s rising star Shubhankar Sharma.
Sharma extended his Merit lead after securing a commendable tied-51st place finish in his debut appearance at The 147th Open, where half the earnings were counted towards the Habitat for Humanity Standings. He sits atop the money list with a current haul of US$603,156.
This week, the Asian Tour heads to the holiday isle of Fiji for the Fiji International presented by Fiji Fairways. The AUD$1.25 million (approx. US$970,000) tournament is tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.
Top-20 players on the Habitat for Humanity Standings
Pos Player Order of Merit (US$)
1 Shubhankar SHARMA (IND) $603,155.55
2 Matt WALLACE (ENG) $446,660.00
3 Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) $372,480.89
4 Sanghyun PARK (KOR) $295,660.39
5 Rahil GANGJEE (IND) $290,425.53
6 Sihwan KIM (USA) $279,623.77
7 Minchel CHOI (KOR) $271,340.97
8 Paul PETERSON (USA) $241,148.57
9 Scott VINCENT (ZIM) $231,289.85
10 Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) $203,466.05
11 Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) $199,324.39
12 John CATLIN (USA) $195,547.91
13 Justin HARDING (RSA) $180,000.00
14 Berry HENSON (USA) $159,358.66
15 Daniel NISBET (AUS) $151,883.64
16 Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA) $140,649.11
17 Prom MEESAWAT (THA) $140,214.84
18 Khalin JOSHI (IND) $133,933.64
19 Shaun NORRIS (RSA) $130,943.24
20 Hideto TANIHARA (JPN) $123,306.08
About Asian Tour
As the official sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia, the Asian Tour leads the development of golf across the region, enhancing the careers of its members while maintaining a commitment to the integrity of the game.
The Asian Tour, through its membership of the International Federation of PGA Tours, is the only recognised pan-Asian professional golf tour in Asia. This unique feature positions the Asian Tour at the pinnacle of professional golf in Asia; providing its events with Official World Ranking status.
Tour Partners include Rolex (Official Timekeeper), Panasonic (Official Consumer Electronics), Habitat for Humanity (Official Sustainable Development Partner), ECCO (Official Footwear Sponsor), Titleist and FootJoy (Official Web Partner), Bloomberg TV (Official International Media Partner), Bloomberg Businessweek Chinese (Official International Media Partner), Wall Street Journal (Official International Media Partner) and Sentosa in Singapore which is the Home of the Asian Tour which also has an office in Kuala Lumpur.
