Success for Stingers GC: What the LIV Series Means for the Next Wave of South African Golfers

Stinger GC have officially won the first team event of the LIV Series, represented by four South African players who will share $3.5 million between the four of them as well as massive individual earnings. They blew away the field, shooting -20 as a team, with a 1-2-3 finish through Schwartzel (-7), Hennie du Plessis (-6), and Brendan Grace (-5). (Louis Oosthuizen came 10^th). Hennie Du Plessis was able to triple his lifetime on course earnings this weekend. Let that rattle around in your head for a moment.

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Those who have moved over to the LIV series have inadvertently enabled an opportunity within South African golf. It may become a case of the older generation giving way to the new, allowing a wave of younger players to make a name for themselves on the PGA Tour and European Tour. There are plenty of new names who are capable of pushing South Africa’s golfing talents out onto the world stage while the older names are defecting to the LIV Series.

Bobby Locke had lit the spark for South African golf by winning the Open Championship four times between 1949 and 1957. Gary Player improved upon his predecessor’s accolades, winning nine majors and forming part of the Big Three, with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. Along came Ernie Els, providing a valiant effort in the 1990s and 2000s while chasing the top of the world rankings, and snapping at the heels of Tiger Woods in his prime. Els won the Open in 2012, elevating his major tally to four.

Retief Goosen added US Open wins in 2001 and 2004. Goosen is a Hall of Famer, formulating part of the lesser-known ‘Big Five’ alongside Tiger, Phil, Els & Vijay Singh, who dominated the top 5 in the world rankings for the majority of the 2000s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Last decade, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen were each able to bag a major win. Louis Oosthuizen has accumulated an impressive amount of top 5 finishes in major championships, documenting his ‘Runner-Up Grand Slam’ via social media, to the tune of Andra Day’s “I’ll rise up”. Schwartzel is now back on form, re-ignited after his recent solid Masters appearance that followed six straight missed cuts. He finished well at the AT&T and featured again at the USPGA at Southern Hills.

South Africa is now producing good young golfers at a rate of knots, the multi-colored national flag appearing more and more frequently on the leaderboards. It is no longer a select few names that compete on the world stage, it is plenty.

James Hart du Preez is a name unfamiliar to most followers of golf. The phenom regularly takes to Instagram to demonstrate his monstrous power. 6’9 and with a cool 211mph ball speed that looked effortless, he has recently made his PGA Tour debut and will be looking to hit the ground running.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wilco Nienaber has been taking the tour by storm by delivering some ridiculous driving distance numbers on the European Tour, approaching 340 yards. He appears to be hitting it past Bryson DeChambeau and doesn’t need surgery afterward. Once he hones the rest of his game, I expect some European Tour wins to accumulate.

Dylan Fritelli is another golfer who has a solid record on the Tour. He sneaks more top 10s than people realize – yet one of the lesser-known figures on the PGA tour, sporting his combination of long-sleeved thermals, cycling-style shades and aloof personality, his lone PGA Tour victory at the 2018 John Deere Classic led to a solid run of form over the next couple of seasons that appears to have largely gone unnoticed. A solo fifth-place finish at the Open in 2021 in only his fourth start was matched by a T5 finish in the Masters 2021.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There are currently 15 South African golfers in the World’s Top 200. Garrick Higgo has been making waves on the European Tour; names like Dean Burmester will be recognizable from the PGA Tour, as well as Shaun Norris and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. The game needs to grow from the roots upwards and the changes being made in South Africa to help promote both the men’s and the women’s game are starting to come to fruition.

The President’s Cup is currently the biggest fixture for South African golfers right now, as they lead the charge for the International camp. Despite only one International win since its inception in 1994, there will likely be stronger competition for the American side with the improved standard of young golfers coming from countries like South Africa. I hope that enough players remain part of the PGA Tour so that the President’s Cup stays alive and competitive.

So while a few South African names have moved over to the LIV Series, there are plenty of names who are ready to burst onto the scene in future PGA Tour events.

Which is why the LIV defectors may be making way for the next generation of golfers in South Africa. They have done their bit for the country, and most will be past their best, except for the Schwartzel resurgence we have seen this season. Rather than reflecting on the bigger names who have chosen to continue their careers with the PGA Tour in the rear view mirror, I choose to focus on the space they have left behind them and the opportunities facing the next generation of golfers in the country.

Cover Image Via SI.com