South African Open Championship
(General Stats)
First played: 1893
Most wins: 13, Gary Player between 1956-81
Consecutive wins: 5, Bobby Locke 1937-40 and 46, Gary Player 1965-69
Youngest winner: Bobby Locke, 17 in 1935
Oldest winner: Sid Brews, 53 in 1952
(Stats since 1997 when event became part of The European Tour International Schedule)
Past winners: 1997: Vijay Singh, 1998: Ernie Els, 1999: David Frost,
2000: Mathias Grönberg, 2001: Mark McNulty,
2002: Tim Clark, 2003: Trevor Immelman,
2004: Trevor Immelman, 2005: Tim Clark
2006: Retief Goosen, 2007: Ernie Els, 2008: James Kingston,
2009: Richard Sterne, 2010: Richie Ramsay, 2011: Ernie Els (Dec 2010), 2011: Hennie Otto (Nov 2011)
Lowest 18 hole score: 63 (-9), John Mellor, 2000, Malcolm Mackenzie, 2001, Trevor Immelman, 2007,
63 (-6), Retief Goosen (twice), Robert Dinwiddie, Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen,
Stuart Manley, Richard Sterne, JBE Kruger, (all 2011)
(Note: In 2011 (Dec 2010), in rounds 3 and 4 the par was reduced to a 69 from 72)
Lowest first 18 hole score: 64 (-8), Ernie Els, 1998, Carl Pettersson, 2002,
Brett Rumford, 2004, Fabrizio Zanotti, 2009, Martin Erlandsson, 2010,
Retief Goosen, Alex Cejka, 2011 (Dec 2010)
Lowest first 36 hole score: 130 (-14), Ernie Els, 2011 (Dec 2010)
Lowest first 54 hole score: 194 (-19), Ernie Els, 2011 (Dec 2010), (Round 3 par reduced to a 69 from 72)
Lowest 72 hole score: 257 (-25), Ernie Els, 2011 (Dec 2010) (Rounds 3 and 4 par reduced to a 69 from 72)
Lowest under par winning score: 257 (-25), Ernie Els, 2011 (Dec 2010) (Rounds 3 and 4 par reduced to a 69 from 72)
Lowest final round by a winner: 63 (-6), Ernie Els, 2011 (Dec 2010)
Wire-to-wire-winners: None
Largest 18 hole lead: 2 shots, Ernie Els, 1998, Carl Pettersson, 2002
Largest 36 hole lead: 5 shots, Ross Fisher, 2006
Largest 54 hole lead: 3 shots, Retief Goosen, 2006, Trevor Immelman, 2007, Hennie Otto (Nov 2011)
Largest winning margin: 6 shots, Tim Clark, 2005
Biggest final round 6 shots, Richard Sterne, 2009
comeback by a winner:
Play-offs: Trevor Immelman beat Tim Clark, 2003
Richard Sterne beat Gareth Maybin, 2009
Richie Ramsay beat Shiv Kapur, 2010
Holes-in-one: Neil Homann, 1998 (Durban CC)
Paul McGinley, 1999 (Stellenbosch GC)
Anthony Wall, 1999, (Stellenbosch GC)
Henk Alberts (AM), 2000 (Randpark GC)
Hernan Rey, 2005 (Durban CC)
Richard Finch, 2007 (Humewood GC)
Callum Macualay, 2010 (Pearl Valley)
Richard Bland, 2011 (Dec 2010) (Durban CC)
Charl Schwartzel, 2011 (Dec 2010) (Durban CC)
Low cut: 141 (-3), 2011 (Dec 2010)
High cut: 154 (+8), 2006
153 (+9), 2008
