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Louis Oosthuizen
Gregory Shamus / Getty Images via AFP
- The 84th Masters begins at Augusta National Golf Club starting Thursday.
- 15-time Major Champion Tiger Woods will be looking to defend his title in a Masters behind closed doors.
- Sport24 takes a look at the six South Africans who will compete in the last Major of the golf year.
The 84 Masters Tournament begins at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia on Thursday.
This year’s Masters will be played outside of April for the first time after the pandemic saw the tournament rescheduled from its traditional April schedule.
It will be the last Senior Championship of the year with defending champion Tiger Woods looking to secure a sixth green jacket.
There will be SIX South Africans in the 92-man field with Charl Schwartzel, the only South African competitor to win the green jacket (2011).
Masters Champion 2008 Trevor immelman He was set to compete this week, but announced that he would be joining CBS as a commentator.
Sport24 takes a closer look at the six that will fly the SA flag:
Charl schwartzel
Age – 36
World Ranking – 217
Best Masters – Winner (2011)
Schwartzel is the last South African to don the green jacket after his two-stroke win in 2011.
Since recovering from a wrist injury last year, Schwartzel has struggled to stay fit, knocking him out of the world Top 200.
He missed the cut in his last two Augusta appearances and missed the weekend in four of his last six Major starts.
Hopefully some of Augusta’s magic will rub off and you’ll see Schwartzel return to his best.
He will play in rounds 1 and 2 alongside Australian Jason Day and Argentine amateur Abel Gallegos.
Louis Oosthuizen
Age – 38
World Ranking – 19
Best Masters – 2 (2012)
Oosthuizen is South Africa’s top ranked golfer this week.
Since the resumption of golf in June, the South African has played primarily on the PGA Tour, as he only missed one cut in his 12 starts on the PGA Tour.
Oosthuizen will be looking to secure his first Major victory since his 2010 Open Championship win at St. Andrews.
In September US Open At Winged Foot Golf Club, Oosthuizen produced his stellar performance and finished third.
In his first two rounds, Oosthuizen will be in a prominent group alongside reigning US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and Spaniard Jon Rahm.
Justin harding
Age – 34
World Ranking – 133
Best Masters – T12 (2019)
Playing in his Masters debut last year, Harding finished as the top-performing South African, finishing tied for 12th to book a return to Augusta National.
Since the resumption of golf in June, Harding has played in 13 events and achieved two third places at the British Masters and the Andalucia Masters.
Harding will start rounds 1 and 2 alongside Canada’s Nick Taylor and Japan’s Shugo Imahira.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Age – 26
World ranking – 59
Best Masters – Debut
Bezuidenhout will make his Masters debut this week when he completes all three of this year’s major appearances.
The youngster started his year in style with a second place finish in Dubai and capturing his second Sunshine Tour title at February’s Dimension Data Pro-Am at Fancourt.
His red-hot form was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, but he’s confident in his ability to compete against the best golfers in the world.
He will play alongside two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer and American JT Poston in rounds 1 and 2.
Erik van rooyen
Age – 30
World Ranking – 50
Best Masters – Debut
Van Rooyen will make his Masters debut this week thanks to his World Top 50 ranking.
He has had a stellar season thus far, remaining the second highest ranked South African golfer in the world.
He received his PGA Tour card through non-member points in August and finished T20 at last week’s Houston Open.
Van Rooyen has three world victories, the most recent winning the 2019 Scandinavian invitation on the European Tour.
He and Kang Sung-hoon of South Korea are the only two-player group for Round 1 and 2.
Dylan frittelli
Age – 30
World Ranking – 100
Best Masters – Failed Cut (2018)
Frittelli is making just his second appearance at the Masters this week after his debut in 2018, where he was unable to make it to the weekend.
He found success on the PGA Tour last year when he won the John Deere. Frittelli, who resides in Texas, has only one Top 10 since the reboot, which occurred at RBC Heritage in July.
Frittelli is the only South African player and sixth on the Masters field who tested positive and recovered from Covid-19.
Frittelli begins rounds 1 and 2 alongside 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples and American Max Homa.
