[Golf Topic] 'Major Champ' Thomas "Instantly Top 5 in World Rankings"... Woods 841st

Justin Thomas is cheering while holding the trophy immediately after winning the PGA Championship. Tulsa, USA = Getty Images/Multibits

[Asia Economy Golf Specialist Reporter Kim Hyun-jun] ○…"World Ranking 9th → 5th."

‘Major Champion’ Justin Thomas jumped straight into the ‘Top 5’ by earning 7.30 points in the weekly official golf world rankings announced on the afternoon of the 23rd (Korean time). He accumulated points by winning the second major of this PGA Tour season, the PGA Championship (total prize money $15 million), which concluded that morning at Southern Hills Golf Club (par 70, 7,365 yards) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. This marks his 15th career victory, his first in 1 year and 2 months since ‘The Players Championship,’ known as the ‘5th Major,’ in March last year, with a winning prize of a whopping $2.7 million (34.37 billion KRW).

Although there is some gap with No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA, 9.66 points), he is only 0.66 points behind No. 2 Jon Rahm (Spain, 7.96 points), making it a strong competition for the ‘Number 2’ spot. Cameron Smith (Australia, 7.43 points) ranks 3rd, followed by Collin Morikawa (7.34 points) in 4th. The ‘27-year-old rookie’ Mito Pereira (Chile) soared 71 places from 100th to 49th. On the final 18th hole (par 4), where he was leading by one stroke, he hit his tee shot into the water and made a double bogey, finishing tied for 3rd, losing the major victory he almost had.

Korea’s positions are: ‘Shriners Champion’ Im Sung-jae (24) at 22nd, Lee Kyoung-hoon (31), who successfully defended his AT&T Byron Nelson title on the 16th, at 43rd, Kim Si-woo (27) at 59th, and ‘Asian Tour money leader’ Kim Joo-hyung (20, all from CJ Logistics) at 73rd. The ‘Returned Golf Emperor’ Tiger Woods (USA) has slipped down to 841st. After a long rehabilitation process following a car accident in February last year, he drew spotlight by finishing 47th at the Masters last month, but he withdrew after the 3rd round of this PGA Championship, raising concerns.