Aug. 8, 2012
SEATTLE - Chris Williams returned to the No. 1 spot in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) on Wednesday, a move that could not be more timely with the U.S. Amateur Championship rapidly approaching. The U.S. Am will be hosted Monday, Aug. 13 through Sunday, Aug. 19 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills, Colo. If Williams can hold onto his number one ranking after the U.S. Am, he will receive an exemption into the 2013 Open Championship hosted both in the United States and Britain. Williams dropped from No. 1 to No. 4 in the WAGR standings for one week but gained the top spot back after winning the Western Amateur Championship this past week. He also ascended to the top spot in the Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings. Williams is the first Husky to occupy both No. 1 spots in the amateur rankings since Nick Taylor. Taylor spent an impressive 21 weeks atop the standings from June 15-Nov. 4, 2009. Williams, who will be entering his senior season at Washington in the fall, moved past Japan's Hideki Matsuyama. Williams has a 1447.89 average, while Matsuyam sits at 1397.09. Williams' teammate Cheng-Tsung Pan is currently 20th. The WAGR system ranks the top Amateur Golfers in the world on the basis of their average performance in counting events on a rolling cycle over the previous 52 weeks. For more information on the World Amateur Golf Rankings, visit www.wagr.randa.org. The rise of Williams up the charts can be traced to his recent performances this summer. Williams ran away with the Washington Amateur championship in June. He followed that up with a 3-1 record in the Palmer Cup. In July, he led the Sahalee Players Championship after 71 holes before losing in a three-way playoff. Williams had a top-10 finish in stroke play at the U.S. Public Links Championship before falling in the opening round of match play. Last week, Williams won both the stroke play and match play portions of the Western Amateur Championship. |
