SA GOLFERS OUT TO END LONG DROUGHT
SA’s golfers out to break long drought at Majors and win coveted Claret Jug
FIVE years ago, it seemed South African golf was on the cusp of a golden age and that major titles would be a regular occurrence for the foreseeable future. Ernie Els had just won the 2012 Open at Royal Lytham to claim the country’s fourth major in five years and 22nd overall.
Prior to the Big Easy winning his fourth major with that Open triumph‚ Trevor Immelman (2008 Masters)‚ Louis Oosthuizen (2010 Open) and Charl Schwartzel (2011 Masters) had all made their major breakthroughs.
Oosthuizen and Schwartzel‚ in particular‚ were not even in their prime yet and much was anticipated from them.
But here we are‚ five years on‚ on the eve of the 146th Open at Royal Birkdale‚ and SA’s major tally has stalled with no further successes since 2012.
Oosthuizen has lost two major playoffs in that time‚ to Bubba Watson at the 2012 Masters and Zach Johnson at the 2015 Open‚ but that is as close as anyone has come.
Oosthuizen, 34, continues to be SA’s brightest hope. He was second at The Players’ Championship in May‚ golf’s unofficial fifth major‚ demonstrating he still has the game for the big occasion.
This will be Oosthuizen’s 11th Open and of the previous 10 he has only made the cut five times.
But that is also the nature of the tournament‚ where a bad tee time could see a player going out in a howling gale in the afternoon while the morning field enjoys benign conditions.
Els‚ 47‚ is not considered a serious challenger for the title‚ but his Open record is impressive with 21 cuts made and 13 top tens in 26 appearances.
“Even though this is my 27th Open Championship‚ trust me the buzz‚ the nerves‚ and the excitement‚ are still strong‚” Els said.
“I wouldn’t want it any other way. This is the biggest week in golf‚ no question.”
This year, nine South Africans will tee it up at Birkdale‚ including major winners Els‚ Schwartzel and Oosthuizen.
The latter pair are SA’s highestranked players in the field with Schwartzel at 21 and Oosthuizen at 23 in the world. Branden Grace‚ Brandon Stone‚ Darren Fichardt‚ Jbe Kruger and Open debutants Dylan Fritelli and Shaun Norris join the trio of major champions in the field.
Meanwhile, while uncertainty surrounds the form of names such as Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy, the Open begins today with a plethora of players hopeful of winning the Claret Jug.
The last nine majors have all been won by a different name, going back to Jordan Spieth’s back-to-back victories at the Masters and US Open in 2015.
Johnson, 33, has remained the favourite for the £1.845-million first prize (R23.8-million) with most bookmakers this week, while fourth-ranked McIlroy looks to climb out of a worrying slump.
He has missed the cut at three of the last five majors and also failed to make the weekend on the links at the Irish Open and Scottish Open recently. – TimesLIVE