Zimbabwean golf ace Scott Vincent has entered the top-100 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career.
The 30-year-old rising star achieved the career milestone following a memorable week in which he secured back-to-back wins with victory in the International Series England on Sunday, the first Asian Tour event to be staged in the UK.
After winning the Mizuno Open at Okayama on the Japan Golf Tour last week and enduring a long journey from Japan, his clubs also arrived late in England.
But the man they call “Mhondoro” (Lion) summoned his lion spirit to hold his nerve in the final round in what has been a very tightly contested tournament, carding a final round of 66 at Slaley Hall to finish 12 under par, a shot ahead of Australia’s Travis Smyth, who bogeyed the 72nd hole.
The successive victories on different tours have lifted Vincent from 109th to 91st, the first time he has been ranked inside the top 100 of the World Golf Rankings since turning professional in June 2015.
In what could be a season of firsts for the Zimbabwean star, Vincent who recently became a father is also set to make his maiden appearance in a golf major this tear after qualifying for the 150th Open Championship beginning on July 14 at St. Andrews.
Such has been Vincent’s remarkable rise in the world of golf over the last few months that he was ranked 251st at the beginning of last year.
While he is now ranked 91st in the world, Vincent is now also the sixth-highest African on the global rankings.
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen is the highest ranked African player, although he slipped three positions to 21st after a poor performance by his standards in the PGA championship.
The other players ranked higher than Vincent are South Africans Christiaan Bezuidenhout (65), Shaun Norris (68), Erik van Rooyen (76) and Mutare-born Dean Burmester (88).