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When Ernie Els stunned the golfing world in 2012 by winning the Open – some 16 years after winning his first major – South African golfing fans would not have expected that they would have to endure five major-less years.
In fact, the five-year wait is the longest that South Africa has gone without winning a major since Els won the US Open as a 24-year-old in 1994. After that success, Els added three more majors, Retief Goosen twice won the US Open, Trevor Immelman and Charl Schwartzel added the Masters and Louis Oosthuizen the Open.
The longest wait (before the current waiting period) South Africans had for a major was four years – between Goosen’s second US Open victory in 2004 and Immelman’s triumph in Augusta in 2008.
In other words: It is high time that one of the majors is won by a South African.
And the Masters, which begins at the Augusta National Golf Club tomorrow, provides the first such opportunity in 2017.
Previous winners Immelman and Schwartzel are joined by fellow major winners Oosthuizen and Els, as well as Brandon Grace as the South African contingent in Augusta, which is arguably the most prestigious of the four majors.
Their recent performances in Augusta have been disappointing though, with Oosthuizen the only South African to have made the cut last year, when he finished 15th.
Grace, who is the highest ranked South African in the field and finished 18th in his first appearance in 2013, has since failed to make it to the weekend on his next three tries, while Schwartzel’s best performance since winning in 2011 was 25th two years later.
Els, who twice finished runner-up, famously six-putted from three feet on the first hole last year and not surprisingly missed the cut. Immelman, who has a life-long invitation to participate after winning in 2008, last made the cut in 2013.
Leading players
Were a South African to win the coveted Green Jacket, they would need to overcome some tough opposition, with world number one Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth being the bookie favourites.
Jon Rahm is the in-form golfer going into the Masters, having won the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year.
He says he is keen to become the third Spaniard to win. “It really is a place that seems to suit the Spanish game character, the Spanish way of playing. Obviously, I’m extremely honoured to be here. There’s not many places in the world where golf is respected the way it is here.
“It really is amazing just to walk down Magnolia Lane and feel how well respected the game of golf is. It’s truly amazing.”
The one golfer who will be at the Masters to partake at the Champions Dinner, but not to try to win a fifth Green Jacket will be Tiger Woods. The former world number one, who remains four majors behind Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18, has decided not to play as he struggles to continue to come back from back surgery.
However, unlike the last time he did not play (in 2015), his absence is no longer the main talking point and it could well be that the post-Woods Masters period has started.
