LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN
truth is that one week you’re on and the next week you’re not.” Abt has noted Player’s comments that courses must be set up to be more
over the years is you have a smaller pool of players that qualify to play on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.” Hepburn says this is a contributing factor in South Africa’s long wait for its next major champion. “In terms of what it will take to break our major drought, I think we are getting closer. There is more than enough talent in this country so it could happen at any time.” Hepburn is positive about the future of SA golf and works closely with the Sunshine Tour. “The advantage we have that we didn’t a decade ago is that we now have a national squad at amateur level,” he says. “You are seeing the likes of Jarvis and Jayden Schaper coming through and winning on the DP World Tour. A few years ago, they were tour rookies fresh out of the squad.” Hepburn says that legends like Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Els, who dominated for long periods of time, possessed solid techniques. “Then there are players who dominate for a shorter period, Jordan Spieth for example. Being talented, they find a swing for a while, but then their tech- nique starts to let them down. We are now in an era where the very best golf- ers are dominating the majors. The Masters hasn’t had a surprise winner since Danny Willett in 2016. “When it comes to Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, you have two
was the last South African to lead a major after 54 holes, at the 2021 Open.
difficult on the Sunshine Tour. “Our past major champions played the same courses our golfers are playing now,” he says. “I don’t necessarily think the courses are a big factor and, when we host DP World Tour events, our colleagues and Sunshine Tour directors set up the courses.” Abt concurs they could be more difficult, but he questions why they would want to take that approach. “You don’t necessarily want a course which is that difficult where the golfers become embarrassed,” he says. “You want a situation where the fans admire our golfers, see them make birdies, and aspire to play like them.” Player says that golf is meant to have a pain barrier and courses should be demanding to test a player’s mental and physical limits. “You can’t fault Mr Player’s think- ing,” says Abt. “You have to listen to his opinion, but we don’t want to make our courses so difficult that players are asking themselves: Why am I even play- ing this game? Setting up courses to be more difficult is not necessarily the way to produce more winners.”
dominant players. Scottie is winning through his talent, timing, and abil- ity to keep the club through the ball in a good position. However, as his technique is unusual, we will have to see how long he can keep it up at the highest level.” Sunshine Tour commissioner Thomas Abt says major winners are cyclical. He feels it’s not anything to be concerned about as it is evolving with youngsters coming through. “Next year we may have two major winners,” Abt predicts. “Through the DP World Tour, we provide our players with a pathway to the majors. The bottom line is that we’ve got the golfers, but in sport, the
Golden 21 years South Africa enjoyed a golden era in the majors from 1992 to 2012. Up until 1992 our only major champions had been Bobby Locke and Gary Player. In those 21 years there were 12 victories by six different players. Four in the US Open, four in the Open Champion- ship, two in the Masters, and two in the US PGA. But there was a 14-year drought preceding that period, and it has now been 14 years since our last major triumph. With champions like Nick Price, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, we not only won 12 majors but contended in many others. Between them, Els and Oosthuizen were runners-up in 12 other majors. In the two decades from 2000 to 2019 our golfers recorded 44 Top-5s in majors, and 71 Top-10s. This was truly exceptional.
As a show of comparison, in the two preceding decades from 1980 to 1999 there were 20 Top-5s and 41 Top-10s. However, in the last 17 years there have been a mea- gre 13 Top-5s, and the only players to have contended seriously for majors were Oosthuizen and Branden Grace, who had four Top-5 finishes in the 2015 and 2016 US Open and PGA. Today, only two South Africans under the age of 30 have a Top-10 in a major to their credit – Thriston Lawrence and Casey Jarvis with one apiece. Both were in the Open Championship. We haven’t had a Top-10 in an American major since Schwartzel finished T-10 in the 2022 Masters. The last South African to have had the solo lead going into the final round of a major was Oosthuizen at the 2021 Open. He finished T-3 at Royal St George’s, four shots behind champion Collin Morikawa. Oosthuizen also had a share of the third-round lead at the 2021 US Open and lost by one to Jon Rahm at Torrey Pines.
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 25
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2026
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