It was wonderful to be back in Ekurhuleni, the city where I’m from. I played a lot of junior golf close by at Kempton Park and some amateur events here at Glendower, so there’s a lot of history for me in this part of the world. This was a very special week.
First, though, I send my congratulations again to Andy Sullivan on his first European Tour win. He’s now got his name on that famous old trophy – the second oldest national open in the world – and no one can ever take that away from him. It was a shame for Charl, who played some wonderful golf this week. I know he badly wants to win an SA Open and no doubt he will do; it’s just a matter of time. A word also for Thomas Aiken who finished tied-5th at Glendower, which secured him the top spot on the 2014 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit. He wins the Sid Brews Trophy for the first time. Nice playing, Thomas.
Anyway, I thought the course was in great shape, so hats off to the greens staff. That rough was pretty tough out there – Kikuyu is obviously a very thick-laid grass – but national Opens should be tough. The Open Championship really challenges you in that way and in the US Open you get similar playing conditions to here, with very thick rough, so I think for a tournament of the stature of the South African Open the set-up was entirely appropriate. You have to play proper golf to win on a course like this. That’s what Andy Sullivan did and that’s why he’s the champion.
For me, it was one of those up-and-down weeks, making 20 birdies and an eagle, but throwing in some bad numbers here and there. Overall, though, there was plenty of good stuff – especially with my iron play, which I’ve been working on a lot in terms of dialling-down the power just a fraction and keeping it super-smooth. That part of my game was particularly encouraging.
As I said, though, it was a great week for me in so many other ways and I have to give so much praise to the Sunshine Tour, the European Tour and Glendower for hosting such a great week for the players and the fans. The support all week was incredible and I want to thank the fans from the bottom of my heart.
As everyone knows, the South African Open means so much to me and to all of us ‘home’ players. In fact, I’ve always taken the South African Open as like a fifth major, so to be involved in a capacity where I can host and be an ambassador, thus giving something back to the tournament, is just a phenomenal gift. All week the European Tour players were very complimentary about the tournament and the standard of the golf course. Now we want to build on that and start to draw some of the best players from around the world to play this tournament.
Professional golf does such a lot for charitable causes and obviously this year we were honoured that the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation and Els for Autism were chosen as the South African Open’s beneficiary charities. We held one of our #GameON autism clinics last Thursday – the second to be held at Glendower in the space of a couple of months – which was a great success. The kids had a wonderful time, due in no small part to the assistance of Gavan Levenson and his team. Thanks guys.
Thanks also to some of our Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation (EEFF) members who helped out as part of their life skills training. I know many more would have joined in, but they were competing in the South African Amateur Championship at the weekend. Actually, six former members were competing alongside me at Glendower, with Jared Harvey the highest-placed among them, finishing tied-5th. A fine effort from him. I also noticed there was a lovely piece on the European Tour website (click here to view) with a contribution from one of our EEFF members and showcasing what great work is being done there and how the foundation has been successfully nurturing young talent since it was established in 1999.
All in all that’s a lot of thanks from me, but believe me, they are heartfelt and thoroughly well deserved.
Okay, so moving on to this week’s events. We flew out of Johannesburg on Sunday evening and we have just arrived in Abu Dhabi for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, the 10th anniversary of this superb event. As ever there’s a really strong field assembled here and the course is always set-up beautifully. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I love the Middle East and there’s no doubt it’ll be a great experience for all of the players. They know how to do things in style here!
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