Although the race for the 2003 Volvo Order of Merit had officially begun at the end of 2002 with Padraig Harrington’’s win in the BMW Asian Open and Fredrik Jacobson’’s success in the Omega Hong Kong Open, it was January 2003 that the season got into full swing.
There is nothing like a home win to enthrall the spectators and that is exactly what happened in the first event, the South African Airways Open at Ernivale Golf Club in Cape Town.
A decade earlier, the members had gotten used to the sight of the floppy haired teenager as he practiced hard on the range, dreaming of glory. Ten years later, they lined the fairways to cheer as the same Trevor Immelman won his maiden European Tour title in dramatic fashion, birdieing the final hole then repeating the feat at the first play-off hole to edge defending champion Tim Clark.
Still in South Africa the following week, another tournament yielded a first time winner, England’’s Mark Foster, who also came through a play-off, this time against five other challengers to win the dunhill championship at Houghton Golf Club in Johannesburg.
Waiting for the play-off to begin, the man from the same town of Worksop in England as Ryder Cup player Lee Westwood, was nervously hitting a few practice putts as the final cards were handed in. As he did, a familiar figure shuffled across the green and offered a few words of advice.
“Whatever you do, enjoy it,” said Westwood. Foster responded that he would try. “No,” retorted Westwood. “You have to make sure you enjoy it.” Lee and his father, John, wished him good luck and left 27 year old Foster to his own devices. The rest, as they say, is history.
The final tournament in January yielded the third first time winner in a row but Liang-Wei Zhang’’s victory in the Caltex Masters, presented by Carlsberg Singapore 2003, was the performance of the month in many eyes.
Leading up to the event, whenever Ernie Els stepped onto a golf course, he won – twice in America at the beginning of 2003 and in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in his native South Africa in December 2002.
When The Big Easy stood one stroke ahead with one to play at Laguna National Golf & Country Club, a fourth win seemed imminent but Zhang had other ideas, producing a stunning birdie three to Els’’s bogey five to become the first Chinese golfer to win an event on The European Tour. It was a victory which ensured an extra special resonance to that week’’s Chinese New Year celebrations in Singapore.
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