With lucrative events such as WGC’s and Majors looming, the Official World Golf Rankings becomes all important. Here we follow the Asian Tour players that are making a charge up the rankings and their quest to play their way into these events via the OWGR.

Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, currently ranked number 42 on the OWGR, is already eligible for all the above events.

By Olle Nordberg, Former Asian Tour and European Tour professional. 

Kiradech won one of his group-stage matches at the WGC-Dell Matchplay last week, beating world number six Bryson DeChambeau 2&1, while losing his two other matches against Marc Leishman and Russel Knox both 2-down. The Thai star slipped one spot down in the rankings to 42^nd following his performance last week.

Last week’s Hero Indian Open saw Asian Tour member Masahiro Kawamura of  Japan finish in solo-second place, following a great par-save on the final hole after being in the hazard off the tee.

Kawamura took home 11.4 OWGR points and rose 47 spots from 208th to 161th on the ranking list. He also climbed to third place on the Habitat for Humanity Standings with a current haul of $249,266.

Other Asian Tour players to watch on the current rankings are:

• Justin Harding (RSA)

Harding played the WGC-Dell Matchplay in Austin, Texas last week against a stellar field that included 64 out of the top 66 players in the world. Although he didn’t make it out of his group that included world number three Rory McIlroy, Luke List and Matthew Fitzpatrick, he crucially won two matches after beating Fitzpatrick 1-up and List 2-up, losing only to McIlroy 3&2.

These two important points meant he would be guaranteed to finish the week inside  top 50 on the OWGR and receive an invitation to his first Masters Tournament next week in Augusta, Georgia.

Harding gained one place on the OWGR and is now ranked number 48, a remarkable achievement for a player that started his 2018 season in 716^th place.

• Jazz Janewattananond (THA)

Missing his first cut of the year in Delhi last week, Jazz drops two places on the ranking list to number 73.

The next major event coming up where OWGR rankings will be important is the US PGA Championship at Bethpage Black in New York May 16-19th. The top 100 will usually get a special exemption into this event, and Jazz is likely to secure one of these invitations.

The cut-off date for the top 100 special exemptions is May 5, 2019.

• Kurt Kitayama (USA)

Kitayama did not play last week and remains at number 104. He is still only one good tournament away from breaking into the top 100 and a chance for a start in the US PGA Championship.