Oliver Bekker

Last updated

Oliver Bekker
Personal information
Born (1984-12-11) 11 December 1984 (age 39)
Pretoria, South Africa
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight198 lb (90 kg; 14.1 st)
Sporting nationalityFlag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
Residence Stellenbosch, South Africa
Career
Turned professional2008
Current tour(s) European Tour
Sunshine Tour
Former tour(s) Web.com Tour
Challenge Tour
LIV Golf
Professional wins8
Highest ranking 84 (15 May 2022) [1]
(as of 17 November 2024)
Number of wins by tour
Sunshine Tour8
Challenge Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament DNP
PGA Championship CUT: 2022
U.S. Open CUT: 2017
The Open Championship DNP
Achievements and awards
Sunshine Tour
Players' Player of the Year
2017–18

Oliver Bekker (born 11 December 1984) is a South African professional golfer.

Contents

Professional career

Bekker plays on the Sunshine Tour where he has won seven times. He won the 2011 Northern Cape Classic, the 2012 Dimension Data Pro-Am, [2] the 2013 Telkom PGA Pro-Am and the 2016 Sun City Challenge. He won three times in 2017, the Zambia Sugar Open, the Lombard Insurance Classic, and the Sun Wild Coast Sun Challenge.

In April 2021, Bekker lost in a four-man playoff at the Limpopo Championship. [3] In December, he finished second in the SA Open Championship; one shot behind Daniel van Tonder. [4] At the end of the season he graduated to the European Tour for 2022 via the Challenge Tour rankings. [5]

In May 2022, Bekker broke into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time after losing out in a playoff for the Catalunya Championship. [6] In June 2022, he played in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series event. Along with several other players, he was subsequently fined by the European Tour and suspended from three PGA Tour co-sanctioned events. [7]

In February 2023, Bekker won the Dimension Data Pro-Am for the second time in his career. The event was co-sanctioned between the Challenge Tour and the Sunshine Tour. [8]

Professional wins (8)

Sunshine Tour wins (8)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
117 Sep 2011 Northern Cape Classic −15 (66-64-68=198)5 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg Bryce Easton
219 Feb 2012 Dimension Data Pro-Am −13 (65-70-71-70=276)2 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg Thomas Aiken, Flag of South Africa.svg Tyrone Ferreira
325 Jan 2013 Telkom PGA Pro-Am −20 (66-64-66=196)2 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg PH McIntyre, Flag of South Africa.svg Ryan Strauss
46 Aug 2016 Sun City Challenge −6 (74-67-69=210)1 stroke Flag of South Africa.svg Shaun Norris
530 Apr 2017 Zambia Sugar Open −19 (68-66-67-72=273)2 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg Jared Harvey
621 May 2017 Lombard Insurance Classic −19 (63-70-64=197)Playoff Flag of South Africa.svg Justin Harding
725 Aug 2017 Sun Wild Coast Sun Challenge −11 (69-65-65=199)3 strokes Flag of South Africa.svg Tyrone Ferreira, Flag of South Africa.svg Alex Haindl,
Flag of South Africa.svg Ockie Strydom
812 Feb 2023 Dimension Data Pro-Am 1 (2)−22 (67-68-64-68=267)4 strokes Flag of Sweden.svg Adam Blommé

1Co-sanctioned by the Challenge Tour

Sunshine Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2017 Lombard Insurance Classic Flag of South Africa.svg Justin Harding Won with par on first extra hole
2 2021 Limpopo Championship Flag of South Africa.svg Hennie du Plessis, Flag of South Africa.svg Brandon Stone,
Flag of South Africa.svg Daniel van Tonder
Stone won with birdie on first extra hole

Challenge Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
112 Feb 2023 Dimension Data Pro-Am 1−22 (67-68-64-68=267)4 strokes Flag of Sweden.svg Adam Blommé

1Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour

Challenge Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 2021 Limpopo Championship Flag of South Africa.svg Hennie du Plessis, Flag of South Africa.svg Brandon Stone,
Flag of South Africa.svg Daniel van Tonder
Stone won with birdie on first extra hole

Playoff record

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2022 Catalunya Championship Flag of Spain.svg Adri Arnaus Lost to par on sixth extra hole

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament20172018
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
Tournament2019202020212022
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship CUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship NT

CUT = missed the halfway cut
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament2012201320142015201620172018
Match Play
Championship
Invitational 75
Champions T69
  Did not play

"T" = Tied

See also

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References

  1. "Week 20 2022 Ending 15 May 2022" (pdf). OWGR . Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  2. "Bekker wins Dimension Data Pro-Am". Miami Herald . The Sports Network. 19 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  3. "Stone takes playoff victory in Limpopo Championship". Sport 24. 25 April 2021.
  4. "Van Tonder wins SA Open, Bezuidenhout locks up Masters spot". Associated Press. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  5. Coley, Ben (24 November 2021). "Challenge Tour graduates player profiles as DP World Tour welcomes new members". Sporting Life. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  6. Butler, Lynn (3 May 2022). "SA golfer Bekker breaks into top 100 after playoff agony in Spain". News24. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  7. Hibbett, James (28 June 2022). "LIV Rebels Continue On DP World Tour After £100,000 Fines". Golf Monthly. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  8. "Oliver Bekker wins second Dimension Data Pro-Am title". IOL. 12 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.