About time for SA Major win?

Will South Africa’s wait for another Major golf champion end this weekend?

It has been 10 years since a South African golfer last won a Major title – Ernie Els doing it at the Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes in 2012. It was Els’ fourth Major victory.

Since then, Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen – a Major winner at the Open in 2010, his sole Major triumph – have come close to bagging Major titles but failed to close it out in the final round.

Before Els’ win, Charl Schwartzel won the Masters in 2011, Oosthuizen won the Open in 2010 and Trevor Immelman won the Masters in 2008.

Before them, in more recent years, Els (winner at the 2002 Open and 1997 and 1994 US Open) and Retief Goosen (winner at the 2004 and 2001 US Open) flew the SA flag.

Gary Player and Bobby Locke are the only other South African golfers to have won Major titles.

South African sporting fans now await their next champion.

While much of the hype and build-up to the year’s second Major, the PGA Championship at Southern Hills this week, has been focused on Tiger Woods playing his second big tournament since his car crash, and the new Saudi-backed golf competition and Phil Mickelson’s comments around that and the fact he won’t be defending this week, South Africans will hope one of our golfers comes good on Sunday.

The PGA often produces surprise winners – even Mickelson was a shock winner last year – so anything is possible.

South Africa have 11 golfers in the field, with Oosthuizen again the best bet to go all the away – he just seems to produce his best for the Majors and also finished runner-up alongside Brooks Koepka last year. Oosthuizen was also a runner-up at the PGA in 2017.

Schwartzel has also been in good form of late, while Oliver Bekker has enjoyed a great season on the DP World Tour.

The other locals hoping to do well are Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Dean Burmester, Branden Grace, Justin Harding, Garrick Higgo, Shaun Norris, Erik van Rooyen and Danie van Tonder.