Supersport press release:
No other country can claim to have as many in-form golfers going into this week’s Masters as South Africa at the moment, which could make the opening Major of the year one of the most successful for this country in recent years.
Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Tim Clark, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, Rory Sabbatini and Trevor Immelman will all be playing at Augusta National Golf Club.
And a combination of current form and past performances at the Masters makes this one of the strongest contingents of South African golfers to do battle with Augusta in many years, with SuperSport set to broadcast all of it live.
Ernie Els’ wins in the WGC-CA Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational make him a certain favourite to take a run at a first Green Jacket.
And before this last weekend, Goosen had finished fifth and fourth in his last two tournaments, Schwartzel had enjoyed finishes of tied ninth and second in his last three tournaments (not forgetting his back-to-back victories on the European Tour at the start of the year), and Oosthuizen had a win, two runner-ups and a finish of third in his last five tournaments.
Only Sabbatini and Immelman are the exceptions. Sabbatini has missed three cuts in his last four tournaments, while Immelman is languishing at number 251 on the world rankings as he attempts to work his way back from injury.
But throw in Immelman’s Masters triumph in 2008 and Sabbatini’s share of second place in 2007, and this could be a record performance for South African golfers at Augusta.
Since 1994, South Africa’s best overall performance at the Masters has been three golfers finishing in the top 20. This has occurred twice in this period.
The first was in 2003, when Els finished sixth behind champion Mike Weir, with Goosen and Clark finishing in the top 20 that year.
The second was in 2007, when Goosen and Sabbatini shared second place behind champion Zach Johnson, with Clark finishing in the top 20.
But barring a victory, and the return of a certain world number one, there is a definite sense that the top 20 this year could have a distinctly South African feel to it.
No other country can claim to have as many in-form golfers going into this week’s Masters as South Africa at the moment, which could make the opening Major of the year one of the most successful for this country in recent years.
Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Tim Clark, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, Rory Sabbatini and Trevor Immelman will all be playing at Augusta National Golf Club.
And a combination of current form and past performances at the Masters makes this one of the strongest contingents of South African golfers to do battle with Augusta in many years, with SuperSport set to broadcast all of it live.
Ernie Els’ wins in the WGC-CA Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational make him a certain favourite to take a run at a first Green Jacket.
And before this last weekend, Goosen had finished fifth and fourth in his last two tournaments, Schwartzel had enjoyed finishes of tied ninth and second in his last three tournaments (not forgetting his back-to-back victories on the European Tour at the start of the year), and Oosthuizen had a win, two runner-ups and a finish of third in his last five tournaments.
Only Sabbatini and Immelman are the exceptions. Sabbatini has missed three cuts in his last four tournaments, while Immelman is languishing at number 251 on the world rankings as he attempts to work his way back from injury.
But throw in Immelman’s Masters triumph in 2008 and Sabbatini’s share of second place in 2007, and this could be a record performance for South African golfers at Augusta.
Since 1994, South Africa’s best overall performance at the Masters has been three golfers finishing in the top 20. This has occurred twice in this period.
The first was in 2003, when Els finished sixth behind champion Mike Weir, with Goosen and Clark finishing in the top 20 that year.
The second was in 2007, when Goosen and Sabbatini shared second place behind champion Zach Johnson, with Clark finishing in the top 20.
But barring a victory, and the return of a certain world number one, there is a definite sense that the top 20 this year could have a distinctly South African feel to it.