South African golf enjoyed one of its most successful years ever on the international stage in 2002, spearheaded by the record performances of both Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.
The two golfers were a dominant force on the world’s fairways this year, with Els claiming his third major with victory in the British Open, capping a year of six individual titles worldwide that saw him voted the European Tour’s Golfer of the Year, and Goosen successfully defending his Volvo Order of Merit crown on the European Tour.
Both ended the year ranked third and fifth respectively in the world, within the top five on the Volvo Order of Merit and within the top 10 on the PGA Tour’s money list.
Els’ major triumph at Muirfield was undoubtedly the highlight this year, with him beating Australians Stuart Appleby and Steve Elkington and Frenchman Thomas Levet in a play-off.
After a dismal 2001 in which he seriously doubted his potential, Els began the year with victory in the European Tour’s Heineken Classic in February and ended it with a crushing eight-stroke win in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City in December.
A fitter and more focused Els also claimed the Dubai Desert Classic – becoming the first player to win this event twice after his triumph in 1994 -, the Genuity Championship, and a fourth World Match Play Championship.
The 33-year-old celebrated his success on the fairways with the birth of his second child, Ben.
”To win the Open at Muirfield was obviously a tremendous thrill. My goal at the start of the season was to add at least one more Major to my two US Open Championships and I achieved that – although I did have to do it the hard way,” said Els.
”It was also great to become the first player to win the Dubai Desert Classic for a second time and, as a South African, I was excited about my eight-shot win in the Nedbank Golf Challenge, where I finished with one of the best rounds of my life. I’m really thrilled with this record. It gives me a lot of confidence for 2003.”
Goosen continued to establish himself as a world beater by becoming the first South African to successfully defend his Volvo Order of Merit crown.
Victories in the Johnnie Walker Classic — where he held the largest 54-hole lead on the European Tour this year of 13 strokes going into the final round — and the Dimension Data Pro-Am in successive weeks, and the PGA Tour’ s BellSouth Classic, and second behind Woods in the Masters a week after BellSouth defined his year.
The performances of both Els and Goosen inspired their countrymen to reach for greater heights as well.
Europe proved to be a highly successful hunting ground for South African professionals this year.
Trevor Immelman ended his most successful year as a professional in 14th place on the Volvo Order of Merit, including three second place finishes on the Tour.
Darren Fichardt and Roger Wessels managed to retain their European Tour cards for next season, while Martin Maritz, Ryan Reid, Charl Schwartzel and Richard Sterne will all feature in their debut season’s on the Tour next year.
The 18-year-old Schwartzel will be South Africa’s youngest golfer since Dale Hayes to play on the European Tour. Hayes was 18 when he won the Spanish Open.
Titch Moore narrowly missed out on gaining his European Tour card despite a solid year on the Challenge Tour, where he finished 17th on the rankings and just outside the top 15 who were given cards for next season.
In America, both Tim Clark and Rory Sabbatini did enough to retain their PGA Tour cards for next season, finishing 68th and 107th respectively on the money list.
Brenden Pappas, who lost his card after a difficult debut on the Tour, immediately won it back at the Tour’s Qualifying School.
Clark and Sabbatini also teamed up to finish fifth for South Africa in the World Cup in Mexico.
James Kingston finished as the highest ranked South African on the Asian Davidoff Tour in 16th place on their final Order of Merit.
On the seniors front, John Mashego was South Africa’s most successful senior golfer in Europe this year, finishing 50th on their final Order of Merit with one top 10 and three top 20 finishes. – Sapa