Since Ernie Els' historic 2012 Open win, South African golf has been searching for its next major champion. With the PGA Championship approaching, we look at the "gap" between our rising stars and the Sunday leaderboard. Photo: AFP
Image: AFP
COMMENT
There’s something quietly unsettling about how long it’s been since a South African golfer lifted one of the game’s biggest trophies.
When Ernie Els won The Open Championship in 2012, it didn’t feel like the end of an era — more like a continuation of a proud tradition. After all, just a year earlier, Charl Schwartzel had produced that unforgettable back-nine run to win The Masters at Augusta National.
It felt like South Africa would keep producing Major winners when Schwartzel followed in the footsteps of Louis Oosthuizen (The Open in 2010) and Trevor Immelman (The Masters in 2008).
But more than a decade later, we’re still waiting for another victory.
The latest Masters at Augusta didn’t do much to ease the concerns. Schwartzel was the only South African to make the cut — and even then, he finished well down the field at 12-over par.
The younger names, Aldrich Potgieter and Casey Jarvis, showed glimpses of potential just by being there, but neither made it through to the weekend. That’s not a failure — it’s part of the learning curve — but it does underline how big the step up is.
And maybe that’s where the real conversation lies. South Africa isn’t struggling to produce golfers. Players are still qualifying for Majors, still gaining experience on the biggest stages. But there’s a noticeable gap between showing up and seriously contending on Sunday.
Take last year’s PGA Championship for example.
Six South Africans teed it up, but only Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Garrick Higgo made the cut. At The Open Championship and the US Open, players like Thriston Lawrence and Dean Burmester hung around respectably — even pushing into the Top 15 — but never quite looked like they were about to win it. Both eventually ended tied 12th.
With some of South Africa’s top golfers joining LIV Golf, the path to the Majors has become a bit more complicated. They now rely on exemptions to get into the big tournaments, rather than qualifying through the traditional rankings route.
That said, a newer pathway — even if it currently offers limited points — does allow them to earn official world golf ranking points on the LIV League again.
Over time, that could prove vital, helping players rebuild their standings and potentially opening the door to more consistent Major qualification in the future.
So, should we be worried?
Maybe not panicking — but definitely paying attention. For a country with South Africa’s golfing history, just having players in the field has never really been the benchmark. The standard has always been about competing and eventually winning.
The encouraging part is that there’s youth coming through, and plenty of it. The concern is whether that talent can make the jump from promising to world-class. With the PGA Championship around the corner, there’s another chance to see where things stand as a host of locals are expected to play in the second Major of the year in May.
For now, though, it feels like South African golf is in between chapters — we are no longer in the era of winning a Major almost every year, but still waiting in expectation for the next name to take that leap onto the winners podium.