SA’s success at Majors:

For a country with a relatively small population, South Africa’s haul of 22 major titles is bettered only by the USA (259), Scotland (55) and England (34). All of SA’s majors have been post WW2 while Scotland has only won three and England 10 in the same period.

In the last decade SA has five major victories by five different players (Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Ernie Els).

Gary Player has won nine majors (three Opens, three Masters, two PGAs and one US Open). He is one of only five men to complete the career grand slam (winning the Masters, US Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship) alongside Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen and Tiger Woods.

Gary Player is the only SA man to win two majors in a season when he won the 1974 Masters and Open titles.

Els and Bobby Locke are SA’s next most successful major duo with four crowns each. Locke won four Open Championships (1949, ‘50, ‘52, ’57) while Els has won the US Open twice (1994, ’97) and the Open twice (2002, 2012).

Goosen has won two US Opens (2001, 2005).

In 2008 Immelman became only the second South African to win the Masters after Player.

Oosthuizen won the 2010 Open at St Andrews, leading from start to finish.

Schwartzel claimed the 2011 Masters title by becoming the first man to ever birdie the final four holes of the tournament.