George Coetzee

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George Coetzee
23 BMW International Open bei Muenchen George Coetzee.JPG
Coetzee at the 2011 BMW International Open
Personal information
Full nameGeorge William Coetzee
Born (1986-07-18) 18 July 1986 (age 39)
Pretoria, South Africa
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight95 kg (209 lb; 15.0 st)
Sporting nationalityFlag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
ResidencePretoria, South Africa
Career
Turned professional2007
Current tour(s) Sunshine Tour
Former tour(s) European Tour
Canadian Tour
Professional wins17
Highest ranking 41 (27 January 2013) [1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour5
Asian Tour1
Sunshine Tour15
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament CUT: 2013
PGA Championship T7: 2015
U.S. Open T56: 2013
The Open Championship 15th: 2011
Achievements and awards
Sunshine Tour
Order of Merit winner
2015, 2017–18

George William Coetzee (born 18 July 1986) is a South African professional golfer. He has won five tournaments on the European Tour and 14 on the Sunshine Tour, where he has also topped the Order of Merit on two occasions.

Contents

Early life

Coetzee was born in Pretoria and matriculated from the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool in 2004. He started playing golf when he was 10 and won the first junior tournament he ever played in, shooting 49 in 9 holes. He finished 4th and 8th in the Callaway Junior World Championship in San Diego, where he attended the University of San Diego for one semester. He turned professional in 2007.

Professional career

Having turned professional, Coetzee joined the Sunshine Tour in 2007. He claimed his first win during his rookie season, in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour event at Selborne. His second and third wins came a year later at the SAA Pro-Am Invitational, and the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour event at Humewood.

He earned a European Tour card for the 2010 season through the qualifying school, but had to return to qualifying school at the end of the season after finishing 126th on the Order of Merit and recording only two top-10 finishes. Coetzee regained his playing rights in 2011. He had a runner-up placing at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, where he lost out to Thomas Bjorn on the fifth extra hole of a five-man playoff. He also had three third-place finishes at other tournaments and eight top-10s overall. Coetzee finished the season ranked 26th on the Race to Dubai. The following season, 2012, he finished 21st on the Race to Dubai and reached the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

In February 2014, Coetzee won his maiden European Tour title in his 107th start with a three stroke victory at the Joburg Open. He came from four strokes behind in the final round with a six under par 66 to claim victory. [2] Coetzee won his second European Tour title at the Tshwane Open in March 2015, by a single stroke over Jacques Blaauw. In May 2015, Coetzee won his second tournament of the year at the inaugural AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, defeating Thorbjørn Olesen in a sudden-death playoff, at the second extra hole with a birdie on the par-five 18th hole. He won the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit that season.

In February 2016, Coetzee won the Dimension Data Pro-Am finishing birdie-birdie-eagle to defeat Dean Burmester by a single stroke. In July 2017, Alan Burns, who had been Coetzee's caddie since 2010, took another opportunity with another South African golfer Brandon Stone. [3] Coetzee won his second Sunshine Tour Order of Merit title in 2017–18; during the season he won the co-sanctioned Tshwane Open, his fourth European Tour victory.

In September 2020, Coetzee won his fifth tournament on the European Tour at the Portugal Masters. This was his first win in mainland Europe and his first European Tour win that was not co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour. [4]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (17)

European Tour wins (5)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
19 Feb 2014 Joburg Open 165-68-69-66=268−193 strokes Flag of England.svg Tyrrell Hatton, Flag of South Korea.svg Jin Jeong,
Flag of South Africa.svg Justin Walters
215 Mar 2015 Tshwane Open 167-66-68-65=266−141 stroke Flag of South Africa.svg Jacques Blaauw
310 May 2015 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open 1,270-67-65-69=271−13Playoff Flag of Denmark.svg Thorbjørn Olesen
44 Mar 2018 Tshwane Open 1 (2)67-64-68-67=266−182 strokes Flag of England.svg Sam Horsfield
513 Sep 2020 Portugal Masters 66-70-66-66=268−162 strokes Flag of England.svg Laurie Canter

1Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2011 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles Flag of Denmark.svg Thomas Bjørn, Flag of England.svg Mark Foster,
Flag of Spain.svg Pablo Larrazábal, Flag of Austria.svg Bernd Wiesberger
Bjørn won with birdie on fifth extra hole
Foster eliminated by par on fourth hole
Larrazábal eliminated by par on second hole
Wiesberger eliminated by par on first hole
2 2015 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open Flag of Denmark.svg Thorbjørn Olesen Won with birdie on second extra hole

Sunshine Tour wins (15)

Legend
Playoff events (1)
Other Sunshine Tour (14)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
115 Jun 2007 Vodacom Origins of Golf at Selborne70-71-66=207−92 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg Ulrich van den Berg
223 Aug 2008 SAA Pro-Am Invitational 72-66-69=207−93 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg Warren Abery, Flag of Scotland.svg Doug McGuigan
319 Sep 2008 Vodacom Origins of Golf (2) at Humewood71-68-73=212−41 stroke Flag of South Africa.svg Jean Hugo
427 Feb 2011 Telkom PGA Championship 65-64-68-64=261−272 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg Neil Schietekat
59 Feb 2014 Joburg Open 165-68-69-66=268−193 strokes Flag of England.svg Tyrrell Hatton, Flag of South Korea.svg Jin Jeong,
Flag of South Africa.svg Justin Walters
615 Mar 2015 Tshwane Open 167-66-68-65=266−141 stroke Flag of South Africa.svg Jacques Blaauw
710 May 2015 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open 1,270-67-65-69=271−13Playoff Flag of Denmark.svg Thorbjørn Olesen
821 Feb 2016 Dimension Data Pro-Am 68-70-64-66=268−211 stroke Flag of South Africa.svg Dean Burmester
94 Mar 2018 Tshwane Open 1 (2)67-64-68-67=266−182 strokes Flag of England.svg Sam Horsfield
102 Nov 2019 Vodacom Origins of Golf Final (3)61-69-66=196−203 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg M. J. Viljoen
114 Sep 2020 Titleist Championship 67-70-66=203−134 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg Tristen Strydom
126 Aug 2021 Vodacom Origins of Golf (4) at De Zalze63-66-69=198−183 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg Jaco Ahlers, Flag of South Africa.svg Tristen Strydom
136 Aug 2022 Vodacom Origins of Golf (5) at De Zalze61-67-67=195−212 strokes Flag of England.svg Joe Long
146 Nov 2022 PGA Championship (2)67-71-67-68=273−153 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg Casey Jarvis
1523 Mar 2025 Serengeti Playoffs 65-66-69-69=269−193 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg Daniel van Tonder

1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

Sunshine Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2015 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open Flag of Denmark.svg Thorbjørn Olesen Won with birdie on second extra hole

Other wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runners-up
113 Nov 2011 Gary Player Invitational
(with Flag of England.svg Mark James)
64-61=125−194 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg Jaco van Zyl and Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ian Woosnam

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament20112012201320142015201620172018
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open CUTT56T70CUT
The Open Championship 15CUTT7118CUTCUTCUT
PGA Championship CUTCUTCUTT7T60
Tournament201920202021
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship CUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship NT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament 00000010
PGA Championship 00001162
U.S. Open 00000042
The Open Championship 00000273
Totals000013187

Results in World Golf Championships

Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

Tournament20122013201420152016201720182019
Championship T53T1657T56
Match Play R64R64R16T17
Invitational T21
Champions T5674T12T40T50
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Professional

See also

References

  1. "Week 4 2013 Ending 27 Jan 2013" (pdf). OWGR . Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  2. McEwan, Michael (10 February 2014). "Coetzee wins maiden title at last". Bunkered . Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  3. "Who's That Caddie: PGA Championship". 29 July 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  4. "South African George Coetzee wins Portugal Masters". Associated Press. 13 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  5. "Coetzee takes Northern Amateur". South African Golf Association. 10 April 2006. Archived from the original on 26 September 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2023.