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Buckle now ranked 80th in world

Australian ace Andrew Buckle broke into the top-100 when he catapulted to 80th position in the latest official World Golf Ranking.

Buckle has been enjoying a brilliant season as he is also ranked third on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit.

The 25-year-old Aussie has been on the forefront this season with top-20 finishes in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, co-sanctioned with the European Tour, and the Johnnie Walker Classic which was co-sanctioned with the European and Australasian Tours.

The Brisbane-born talent then finished runner-up in the Enjoy Jakarta HSBC Indonesia Open and the TCL Classic. Buckle, the 1999 and 2000 World Junior Champion, enjoyed his most recent success on American soil when he won the Nationwide Tour’s Virginia Beach Open title on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Korean star Choi Kyung-ju, a three-time winner on the US PGA Tour, was ranked 39th.

Thai sensation Thongchai Jaidee, who was runner-up in the Maybank Malaysian Open and finished third in the Enjoy Jakarta HSBC Indonesia Open, was currently in 93rd position while India’s Jyoti Randhawa rose to 119th.

Thai talent Thaworn Wiratchant, who finished 13th in the BMW Asian Open, was ranked 121st while Korea’s Hur Suk-ho slid down to 125th. Three ranks lower was Englishman Simon Dyson while India’s Shiv Kapur was 143rd position.

The other Asian Tour stalwarts in the top-200 are Australia’s young star Jarrod Lyle in 146th spot, Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng in 159th position and Korea’s Charlie Wi, the Maybank Malaysian Open winner, who was in 167th. Jeev Milkha Singh of India, who lifted the Volvo China Open title last month and current leader of the UBS Order of Merit, was a spot below Wi.

India’s Arjun Atwal was currently in 144th while eight spots adrift was Okinawa Open winner from Japan Tadahiro Takayama.

May 10, 2006