SA men find feet in San Francisco
PERFECT RECORD: ALL FOUR PLAYERS WIN THEIR GAMES
Schwartzel makes fine recovery to beat Dustin Johnson.
Day two witnessed the rise of the South Africans with all four players tasting victory at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Matchplay at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco on Thursday.
Charl Schwartzel came from three down with seven holes to play to beat American Dustin Johnson after two extra holes. The turning point came at the short par four 12th hole. Schwartzel’s tee shot ended just left of the green, but was left with a daunting chip from the rough with litt le green to work with. That did not matter as his flop shot landed in the fringe before trickling into the hole for an eagle.
Two more birdies followed on 16 and 18 to square the match and send the contest to extra holes.
With both players making par at the par-five first in sudden-death, Schwartzel hit his approach at the par three second to six feet. Johnson was unable to sink his birdie attempt from the fringe and Schwartzel made the putt. He has now won both his matches and was to face Aussie Matt Jones late last night.
Branden Grace was on fi re against Australian Jason Day, going four under after five holes, to race out to a 3-up lead. Though Day got it back to 1-down at the turn, Grace was able to close out the match 4&3 on the 15th hole. Grace has now won one match and lost one as he now plays American Charley Hoff man.
George Coetzee was involved in a roller-coaster match-up against former world No 1 Martin Kaymer of Germany. He surged to a 3-up lead after six holes, but Kaymer showed his experience to get back to all square with four holes left. Coetzee, with a bogey on the par-3 17th, gifted Kaymer the lead going to the par-5 18th. Coetzee made birdie first, leaving Kaymer with a four-footer to square the hole and win the match. Kaymer, however, proceeded to miss the short putt and the pair headed to extra holes.
Coetzee routinely found the par-5 putting surface in two. Attempting to play a miracle chip shot for his third, Kaymer fluffed it into the bunker and by the time he made it onto the green it was all over. Coetzee, with one win and one defeat, next faces Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand.
Louis Oosthuizen took on veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain. Oosthuizen was never down, but had a scare as Jimenez pulled it back to all square with two to play. The 2010 Open Champion, however, birdied the final two holes to secure a 2-up victory on the 18th.
Oosthuizen has won both his matches and comes up against American Bubba Watson. – ANA The leg amputees’ major challenge is in getting right the pivot and transfer of weight that is so crucial to a golf swing and, much as the equipment has improved for regular golfers, for a “small” fee there are some amazing prosthetics out there that can swivel and bend and move just like our own joints and ligaments.
The one-armed golfers have two options: hitting the ball backhand or hitting it forehand and the major challenge for them is always having enough control with just one hand to get their alignment right and ensure the clubface is square on impact.
But overcoming that is what these golfers do on a daily basis and they hit the ball miles. Reinard Schuhknecht, the world onearmed champion, can drive the ball 380 metres!
What is also impressive is that SADGA is leading the way internationally when it comes to disabled golf. They have competitions around the country almost monthly and CEO Eugene Vorster not only heads up the local administration, but is also busy trying to grow the game internationally.
Sadly, golf is not going to feature in the Paralympics any time soon, but I’m sure Vorster and the
Ken Borland
passionate golfers he is working with will one day get their chance to experience what the able-bodied golfers will from the 2016 Olympics.
They all have incredible stories, like Byron Calvert who had his leg blown off by a right-wing extremist but says the horrific experience was the best thing that happened to him because he now prefers the person he is compared to the person he was.
Another sport that has immense challenges in this country is hockey. Top competitors still have to pay their own fees to play in tournaments and they have a continual battle with the heartless, self-serving administrators in Sascoc just to be included in South Africa’s Olympic plans.
So I salute Varsity Sports for including hockey among the seven codes they support and provide invaluable exposure to as they showcase this country’s young talent.
The third season of Varsity Hockey kicked off in Potchefstroom yesterday, with eight universities battling it out for this season’s title. The tournament will run until May 18 and will be held in Potchefstroom, Johannesburg and whichever city the team that finishes at the top of the table comes from.
This year it’s the turn of the women as the tournament rotates with the men on an annual basis, and the defending champions are the University of Stellenbosch, who will be joined by NMMU, UCT, UJ, Tuks, Wits, Pukke and Kovsies.