Potter reaches personal best with Maridoe win
09 Dec 2020
The Men
Performances of the week
Potter reaches personal best with Maridoe win
Luke Potter is now the 65th best player on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® with a jump of 101 positions after victory in the inaugural Maridoe Amateur. The Encinitas, California resident notched up his second win in four starts, and third of the year, with an 8-6 victory over Preston Summerhays at Maridoe Golf Club in Dallas, Texas.
Potter made history in August when he became the youngest winner of the Southern California Golf Association Amateur Championship at age 16. In February, he won the AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods. Potter is still two months short of his 17th birthday.
Summerhays won last year’s U.S. Junior Amateur Championship and was victorious in this year’s Sunnehanna Amateur. The Scottsdale, Arizona resident climbs 57 spots to 80th.
Roessler hits heights with win
Chile’s Simon Roessler advances 390 places to a career high of 2,070th by winning the Campeonato FChG II in his homeland. Roessler ran out a four-shot winner with a 205 total thanks to rounds of 73, 66 and 66.
Top 50 movers
There are no new top 20 players this week, while Americans Trey Winstead and Benjamim Shipp move into the top half century. Winstead makes a four-ranking rise to 48th, while Shipp sails into 49th position on the crest of 10-ranking swell.
Biggest ranking improvement
It’s perhaps fitting that United Arab Emirates player Ahmad Skaik makes the biggest improvement in a week when the European Tour caps its 2020 campaign with the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. Skaik climbs 1,245 positions to a career high 1,809th thanks to finishing 107th in the Golf in Dubai Championship on the European Tour.
The Women
Performances of the week
Zhang breaks into top 500 with playoff win
Yahui Zhang breaks into the World Amateur Golf Ranking® top 500 for the first time with a move of 79 places to 458th after emerging victorious from a playoff in the Super Lychee China Amateur Champions tournament. She returned rounds of 75, 78 and 75 for a 228 total at Foshan Gaoming Yinhai Golf Club. She then won in a playoff with Shuangshuang Fan, who improves two spots to 371st.
Zhang might not be as high up the WAGR® table as namesake Rose, the world number one, but she’s had an impressive 2020 campaign. She’s won five times in nine appearances this year, finished second twice, third once, with fifth her worst finish.
Auckland continue New Zealand dominance
Auckland won the New Zealand Women’s Interprovincials for the fifth straight year with a 5-0 victory over Canterbury in the final at Akarana Golf Club. Team members Vivian Lu, Fiona Xu, Carmen Lim and Caryn Khoo all make WAGR® table rises as a result. Lu and Xu advance eight places to 282nd and 353rd respectively. Lim is seven places better off in 304th, while Khoo climbs 24 spots to 590th.
Top 50 movers
Xiaowen Yin of China is the only new top 50 entry in a week with no activity in the top 20. She makes a four-ranking rise to 48th, her highest status. Yin has won four of the seven events she’s played this season.
Biggest ranking improvement
Yuanyuan Wan makes the biggest move of the week. She reaches a career high 1,274th with jump of 322 positions thanks to a 12th place finish in the Super Lychee China Amateur Champions tournament in her homeland.
