Ken Borland

South African golfers continued to make their mark internationally in 2021 with eight of them finishing the year in the top-100 of the world rankings.

Louis Oosthuizen was once again in the forefront of the local effort, finishing in the top-three of three of the four Majors. Having been the runner-up at both the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open, the 39-year-old then finished tied-third at the Open. It left him ranked 10^th in the world.

This continued his incredible run at the Majors, where he now has 11 top-10 finishes, including his victory at the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrew’s. Far from being downcast at being pipped to the post so often, Oosthuizen instead said his record inspires him because it proves he can still compete in the Majors.

South Africa’s next highest ranked golfer is Christiaan Bezuidenhout (48^th) and he also enjoyed a good year in the Majors, making the cut in all four of them, an inspirational performance on its own.

There were good years too for Garrick Higgo (59^th), who enjoyed a phenomenal stretch in which he won three times in eight weeks, including at the Palmetto Championships in just his second start on the U.S. PGA Tour. The fact that the youngster’s good friend, Gary Player, gave him a motivational phone call on the morning of the final round created much excitement in America.

Branden Grace staged a good revival in 2021, winning the Puerto Rico Open and finishing the year back in the top-100 at 66^th, while Dean Burmester enjoyed an even more astonishing rise to reach 67^th. He was 182^nd at the end of last year, but his consistency in Europe – winning the Tenerife Open and having six other top-10 finishes as he finished 18^th in the Race to Dubai – saw him claim his career-best ranking. He also won South Africa’s PGA Championship at the St Francis Links in November.

Shaun Norris (76^th) proved his mettle on the Japanese Tour, winning twice and finishing fourth on their points rankings.

Of the home-based golfers, Daniel van Tonder enjoyed the most success. Having dominated locally in 2020, he gained his European Tour card by winning the Kenya Classic and did well enough overseas to retain his privileges by finishing 75^th on their order of merit. He made the cut in the two majors he played in, the Open and the PGA Championship, and completed another very pleasing year for the 30-year-old by winning the South African Open at Sun City.

The South African women’s cricket team’s hopes of playing internationally this year seem to be crumbling into dust with no real effort being made by the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture to pay anything more than lip-service to their stated intention of uplifting women’s sport.

On Tuesday Cricket South Africa were forced to turn down an invitation from world champions England to play five women’s ODIs and two T20 internationals next month due to government not being willing to relax their international travel restrictions.

That would be understandable if it weren’t for the fact that the England and Wales Cricket Board had offered a chartered flight with all necessary health protocols to fly the Proteas team over. Government have also already granted certain sportsmen permission to travel overseas and compete. Repatriation flights and some business travel have also been allowed.

“It is frustrating that another opportunity for our Momentum Proteas to play against top-quality opposition has again had to be cancelled, but as always the safety of our players and support staff is the prime consideration, ” CSA director of cricket, Graeme Smith, said in a statement released on Tuesday.

Clare Connor, the managing director of England women’s cricket, sounded even more frustrated.

“I am immensely disappointed. We have been committed from the outset to deliver the same bio-secure standards for both men’s and women’s international cricket, an investment that included exclusive hotel use for teams, chartered flights and medical provisions. An ECB team, with support from the county ground in Derby, has created a dedicated behind-closed-doors environment to host all of our women’s internationals,” Connor said.

While the Ministry did not respond to a query for comment, they have been users of punitive measures against sporting federations that were not in their good books before. When CSA appeared before the sports portfolio committee recently, they were castigated by Minister Nathi Mthethwa for their “all-White management”.

President Chris Nenzani and acting CEO Jacques Faul have since resigned, but it would be no surprise if the ministry, often ill-informed on events on the inside of sporting organisations, have now also jumped on the anti-Smith bandwagon and are trying to make his life more difficult.