Good to see SA’s golfers battle it out

There’s nothing quite like watching two of South Africa’s top golfers going at it shot for shot during the closing holes of a big championship.

South Africa has a proud tradition of producing top golfers over the years with Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, just to mention a few of the elite.

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In recent times, Trevor Immelman, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel have all won a Major, but have probably not won as many Major titles as predicted.

Our country, after all, has recorded the third most Major titles after the United States and Scotland.

But when it comes to recent Majors, we sadly haven’t featured as well as we did in the past, with Els’ Open Championship win at Royal Lytham and St Anne’s in 2012 our last men’s Major triumph.

So, it was an absolute pleasure watching good pals Oosthuizen and Schwartzel fighting it out yesterday, after the fourth round was delayed due to lightning on Sunday at the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.

Both have slipped down the world rankings due to their involvement in LIV Golf, but they are still major drawcards, especially at home.

Both golfers entered the final round tied at 15-under-par – five shots ahead of third-placed Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Both had their moments in picking up and dropping shots in the final round, but it was Oosthuizen who stepped up on the back nine before some nervy moments at the end.

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He recorded three birdies in a row from holes 13 to 15, but bogeyed 17 and had to sink a lengthy putt for par on 18 to eventually sign for an 18 under par for his first win at the event, having finished runner-up on two occasions.

Schwartzel finished in second, two strokes back on a course that he loves to play, having won the title on four occasions and finished second four times.

It was competitive golf at its best in tricky, wet conditions. With all the world tours trying to come up with a solution with LIV Golf, let’s hope this is the start of good things to come for SA men’s golf.