Though it certainly wasn’t a primary focus Sunday, Martin Laird made a big move in the Official World Golf Ranking as a result of his win at the Valero Texas Open.
Laird, whose sterling round of 9-under 63 Sunday not only gave him the win in San Antonio but also allowed him to grab the final invitation to the Masters, vaulted 61 spots in the latest rankings, moving from No. 117 to No. 56. It’s the first time the Scot has been ranked inside the top 60 in the world since November 2012.
Though he was unable to claim his first career PGA Tour win Sunday, despite being staked to a 54-hole lead, Billy Horschel can take solace in knowing that his recent stretch of good play has now moved him inside the top 100 in the world for the first time in his career. Just two weeks ago, Horschel was No. 236 in the world, but after a tie for second in Houston and a tie for third in San Antonio, the Florida grad now finds himself at No. 97 in the latest rankings, up 35 spots from last week.
In a cruel twist, Marcel Siem finally got back into the top 50 in the world – though his ascension came one week too late. The German missed the top 50 last week by the slimmest of margins, denying him an invite to the Masters, and flew from Morocco to Texas to accept a sponsor’s exemption, hoping to win his way into Augusta. Though his tie for 10th was good enough to move him from 51st to 48th in the rankings, he’ll still be watching the season’s first major from home.
The top 20 in the world stayed nearly the same, with the only change occurring when Phil Mickelson moved to ninth, trading places with Matt Kuchar who dropped to 10th. The rest of the top 10 remains as follows heading into the Masters: Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Luke Donald, Brandt Snedeker, Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Scott and Steve Stricker.