George Coetzee
Introduction '''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.
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. 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. 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.
Amateur wins *2006 Northern Amateur Open
Professional wins (16) ===European Tour wins (5)===No. DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up19 Feb 2014Joburg Open165-68-69-66=268−193 strokes Tyrrell Hatton,  Jin Jeong, Justin Walters215 Mar 2015Tshwane Open167-66-68-65=266 −141 stroke Jacques Blaauw310 May 2015AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open1,270-67-65-69=271−13Playoff Thorbjørn Olesen44 Mar 2018Tshwane Open1 (2)67-64-68-67=266−182 strokes Sam Horsfield513 Sep 2020Portugal Masters66-70-66-66=268−162 strokes Laurie Canter1Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour2Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour'''European Tour playoff record (1–1)'''No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12011Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles Thomas Bjørn,  Mark Foster, Pablo Larrazábal,  Bernd WiesbergerBjørn won with birdie on fifth extra holeFoster eliminated by par on fourth holeLarrazábal eliminated by par on second holeWiesberger eliminated by par on first hole22015AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open Thorbjørn OlesenWon with birdie on second extra hole===Asian Tour wins (1)===No. DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up110 May 2015AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open170-67-65-69=271−13Playoff Thorbjørn Olesen1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Sunshine Tour'''Asian Tour playoff record (1–0)'''No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12015AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open Thorbjørn OlesenWon with birdie on second extra hole===Sunshine Tour wins (14)===No. DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up115 Jun 2007Vodacom Origins of Golf at Selborne70-71-66=207−92 strokes Ulrich van den Berg223 Aug 2008SAA Pro-Am Invitational72-66-69=207−93 strokes Warren Abery,  Doug McGuigan319 Sep 2008Vodacom Origins of Golf (2) at Humewood71-68-73=212−41 stroke Jean Hugo427 Feb 2011Telkom PGA Championship65-64-68-64=261−272 strokes Neil Schietekat59 Feb 2014Joburg Open165-68-69-66=268−193 strokes Tyrrell Hatton,  Jin Jeong, Justin Walters615 Mar 2015Tshwane Open167-66-68-65=266 −141 stroke Jacques Blaauw710 May 2015AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open1,270-67-65-69=271  −13Playoff Thorbjørn Olesen821 Feb 2016Dimension Data Pro-Am68-70-64-66=268  −211 stroke Dean Burmester94 Mar 2018Tshwane Open1 (2)67-64-68-67=266−182 strokes Sam Horsfield102 Nov 2019Vodacom Origins of Golf Final (3)61-69-66=196−203 strokes M. J. Viljoen114 Sep 2020Titleist Championship67-70-66=203−134 strokes Tristen Strydom126 Aug 2021Vodacom Origins of Golf (4) at De Zalze63-66-69=198−183 strokes Jaco Ahlers,  Tristen Strydom136 Aug 2022Vodacom Origins of Golf (5) at De Zalze61-67-67=195−212 strokes Joe Long146 Nov 2022PGA Championship (2)67-71-67-68=273−153 strokes Casey Jarvis1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour2Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour'''Sunshine Tour playoff record (1–0)'''No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12015AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open Thorbjørn OlesenWon with birdie on second extra hole===Other wins (1)===No. DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunners-up113 Nov 2011Gary Player Invitational(with  Mark James)64-61=125−194 strokes Jaco van Zyl and  Ian Woosnam
Results in major championships ''Results not in chronological order in 2020. ''Tournament  2011  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018Masters TournamentCUTU.S. OpenCUTT56T70CUTThe Open Championship15CUTT7118CUTCUTCUTPGA ChampionshipCUTCUTCUTT7T60Tournament  201920202021Masters TournamentPGA ChampionshipCUTU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipNTCUT = missed the half-way cut"T" = tiedNT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic===Summary===Tournament  Wins  2nd  3rd  Top-5  Top-10  Top-25  Events  Cuts madeMasters Tournament          0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0PGA Championship            0  0  0  0  1  1  6  2U.S. Open  0  0  0  0  0  0  4  2The Open Championship       0  0  0  0  0  2  7  3Totals                                     0  0  0  0  1  3  18  7*Most consecutive cuts made – 2 (2013 U.S. Open – 2013 Open Championship)*Longest streak of top-10s – 1
Results in World Golf Championships ''Results not in chronological order prior to 2015. ''Tournament  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019ChampionshipT53T1657T56Match PlayR64R64R16T17InvitationalT21ChampionsT5674T12T40T50QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play"T" = tied
Team appearances '''Professional'''*World Cup (representing South Africa): 2013, 2016
See also *2009 European Tour Qualifying School graduates*2010 European Tour Qualifying School graduates
References
External links ****