Masters: Three SA golfers to do battle for famous green jacket

It’s been 15 years since a South African last won a Masters green jacket – and if current form and rankings are anything to go by it’s not likely to change this year.

Only three South African golfers are in the field this time, former champion Charl Schwartzel, who won in 2011, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who’ll be playing in his fourth Masters, and Thriston Lawrence, who’ll be on debut on Thursday.

Schwartzel in good form

None of them are considered among the favourites and aren’t even thought of as dark horses, despite Schwartzel finishing in the runners-up spot at last weekend’s LIV Miami tournament.

He shot a six-under-par round on the final day to finish one shot back of winner Marc Leishman, but will need a special four days to win again at Augusta National this coming weekend.

In 15 previous starts he’s made 10 cuts, and besides winning in 2011, by two strokes from Jason Day and Adam Scott, his best finishes have been third in 2017 and tied 10th in 2022. He missed the cut last year and finished tied 50th in 2023.

Schwartzel will play alongside Denny McCarthy and amateur Hiroshi Tai in the first two rounds.

Bezuidenhout and Lawrence

Bezuidenhout, who now plays on the PGA Tour and is a former SA Open winner, hasn’t had the best of seasons, but he’s played at Augusta three times previously and made the cut on every occasion.

While he didn’t play in 2023 and 2024, in his debut in 2020 he finished tied 38th and followed that up with a tied 40th in 2021 and a tied 44th in 2022.

Earlier this year, in February, he finished tied 4th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, while in the latter stages of last season he competed in his first PGA season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake. He also played at the Olympics.

The 30-year-old will play in a group with Matt McCarty and Tom Hoge in the first two rounds.

Lawrence, who is playing in his first full season on the PGA Tour, has struggled for consistency in recent times and missed six cuts in eight starts. He did, however finish in a tie for 4th at the Open at Troon last July, which will give him some confidence.

He’ll play alongside former champion Jose Maria Olazabal and Brian Campbell in rounds one and two.

The favourites this week at the year’s first Major are two-time former winner and defending champion Scottie Scheffler and four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy, while Collin Morikawa (two Major wins) also has plenty of support behind him.