Williams Replaces Spieth atop World Amateur Rankings


Chris Williams of the University of Washington has jumped up a spot in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) and earned the No. 1 overall ranking for the week of July 22-29. It marks the first time a Husky has been in the top spot since Nick Taylor spent 21 weeks atop the standings from June 15 to November 4 in 2009.

Williams, a native of Moscow, Idaho, who will be entering his senior season at Washington this fall, moved past Texas' Jordan Spieth in the standings. Williams has a 1427.18 average, while Spieth sits at 1422.01 and is No. 2. Williams' teammate Cheng-Tsung Pan is currently 15th.

Third in the ranking is Hideki Matsuyama, a two-time Asian Amateur champion; he's followed by Stanford sophomore Patrick Rodgers and the Netherlands' Daan Huizing, winner of this year's St. Andrews Links Trophy. Alabama sophomore Justin Thomas, the Haskins Award winner, ranks sixth.

The rise of Williams can be traced to his performances this summer. He ran away with the Washington Amateur in June, and followed that up with a 3-1 record in the Palmer Cup. In July, he led the Sahalee Players Championship for 71 holes before losing in a three-way playoff. Most recently, Williams had a top-10 finish in stroke play at the U.S. Public Links before falling in the opening round of match play.

This week Williams is entered in the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational on the Web.com Tour. He's among 11 collegiate first team All-Americans playing this week on the Scarlet Course at OSU Golf Club in Columbus, Ohio.

The player ranked No. 1 after the U.S. Amateur, which will be held in two weeks at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado, will be the winner of the Mark H. McCormack Medal, awarded to the year's top amateur.

The WAGR system ranks the top amateur golfers on the basis of their average performance in counting events on a rolling cycle over the previous 52 weeks. For more information and a complete list of the top amateurs in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, visit www.wagr.randa.org.