The sensational victory of David Puig in the IRS Prima Malaysian Open brings with it some bread under the arm, beyond the absolute blast of qualifying for the Open Championship at Royal Troon.
The first of all and most obvious has to do with the ranking of the Asian Tour. The Spanish golfer is placed in the first position of the order of merit with the 525 points added in Malaysia. We say it is obvious, as it was the first tournament of the season on the circuit. In second position is Jeunghun Wang and tied in third place are Denwit Boriboonsub and John Catlin.
It will not be easy for David to hold this privileged position, as LIV Golf tournaments do not count for this ranking and he is going to play a very limited number of tests. Even so, last year, playing just nine championships, half as many as many other golfers, he finished in eighth place in the ranking. In addition, it should be remembered that the final winner in 2023, the American Andy Ogletree, played only eleven and was still able to take the order of merit. It is very difficult, but it is possible.
Similarly, Puig is going to take a giant leap in the world ranking. Specifically, pending the update of all the data, he is going to climb more than a hundred places. He is placed in 141st position. This means that he will be ranked as the fifth best Spanish in the classification, behind Jon Rahm (3), Pablo Larrazábal (103), Jorge Campillo (109) and Adrián Otaegui (120). David’s achievement is special because in the last two years he has only played 13 tournaments valid for this ranking, so he has not had many opportunities to add, although he has taken very good advantage of them.
Puig has added 13.20969 world ranking points for his triumph in Malaysia, of which 9.20969 correspond to the triumph and the rest is the addition of 60 percent of the previous figure as it is his second victory in the period of two years (limited to four points, which are the ones he has added more). If he won for the third time before two years have passed since his triumph in Singapore in October of last year, he would add to the corresponding points bag as the winner of that week, 70 percent of the points. From the third victory it would always be 70 percent (also limited to four points). This is the way, introduced as a novelty this year, that the world ranking rewards multiple winners of the less powerful circuits. Thus, with his victory and multiple winner bonus, Puig has received more points than the champion of the Korn Ferry Tour tournament in Panama, and about four points less than Rikuya Hoshino for winning the Qatar Masters.
El ranking mundial penaliza a los designados sin corte y premia las victorias
So, Puig will debut this Monday, when the classification is officially updated, the best world ranking of his career, so far placed in 235th position. Similarly, he keeps alive the dream, also very difficult, of fighting the classification for the Olympic Games alongside Jon Rahm, Pablo Larrazábal, Jorge Campillo, Adrián Otaegui or Nacho Elvira. We say it is very complicated, since access for Paris 2024 is based on the world ranking and, belonging to LIV Golf, a circuit that does not count for this classification, David has fewer opportunities to score points during the year.
By the way, the champion’s trophy of the Malaysian Open is called the Seagram Trophy. From today, the name of David Puig will share space on the base with others like Louis Oosthuizen, Vijay Singh or Lee Westwood.
The next date on the Catalan golfer’s calendar is the International Series of Oman which is held next week at the Almouj Golf Club course. Another opportunity to continue adding and climbing in the world ranking.
