SUNSHINE TOUR
ANOTHER STAR PERFORMER this summer was Du Plessis, who only returned to golf last October after be- ing out for 18 months following surgery to his right wrist, and then a further injury to his left wrist. His is an excep- tional comeback story, although sadly he couldn’t quite make bigger head- lines by winning the Joburg Open at Houghton for his first DPWT victory. The third-round leader, he ran out of steam over the closing holes on Sunday. After going out in 31 he was five shots clear of eventual winner Dan Bradbury with nine holes to play. But there was a dramatic 8-shot swing between them on the back nine. The 29-year-old Limpopo profession- al made his comeback in the Blu Label Unlimited Challenge at Sun City in late October. This was a modified Stableford event over four rounds of the Gary Play- er Country Club, and Du Plessis romped to victory with 49 points, 14 more than the runner-up. In his next two outings he was fourth in the Players Champi- onship and runner-up in the PGA at St Francis Links. “I took my time coming back,” he ex- plained. “I was healthy after about 15 months, and then I spent three months training hard. I went to the gym and worked on my short game. It’s impor- tant when you’re out for that long that you keep doing what you can. I’d been playing well for a while, and if you get that chance you need to keep riding
STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD
Hennie du Plessis made a stirring comeback on the Sunshine Tour after 18 months out of the game.
that wave.” Who could have imagined that he would finish second on the Order of Merit to Jarvis, with earnings of just under R4 million. His World Rank- ing when he teed up in his first event at Sun City was 1694. After the Joburg Open he had moved up 1525 places to 169 in the space of 19 weeks. Du Plessis was in the last group on Sunday at both the Investec SA Open and Joburg Open. At Stellenbosch he had three bogeys in the final nine holes to finish T-2, while at Houghton,
where he finished fourth, he played the back nine in four-over 39. Conso- lation at Stellenbosch came in the form of a $100 000 bonus for breaking the course record with a 63 on day two. At Houghton he had a 62 on Saturday. It is worth recalling that Du Plessis played in the very first LIV Golf tourna- ment in London in 2022, where he was second to Charl Schwartzel. He earned close to $3 million that week, because he was part of the Stingers team with Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace that won the team title.
One of the Zebula elephants trumpets M J Viljoen’s triumph in the SDC Open. Left: Deon Germishuys with the PGA Championship trophy at St Francis Links.
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MARCH/APRIL 2026
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