The 1992–93 Southern Africa Tour, titled as the 1992–93 FNB Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 22nd season of the

Southern Africa Tour The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern and East Africa. For much of its early history it was known either as the South African Tour or Sunshine Circuit; through sponsorship deals, it has also been known as the Vod ...

, the main

professional golf tour Professional golf tours are the means by which otherwise unconnected professional golf tournaments are organised into a regular schedule. There are separate tours for men and women; most are based in a specific geographical region, although some to ...

in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

FNB title sponsorship

It was the first season in which the tour had signed a title sponsorship agreement with First National Bank, being renamed as the FNB Tour.

Season outline

A handful of top golfers dominated the first part of the season.

Ernie Els Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature (he stands ) along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victor ...

won the first event of the season, the

FNB Players Championship The Vodacom Players Championship was a golf tournament on the Sunshine Tour that was held in South Africa. It was founded as the FNB Players Championship in 1992 and was played for the final time in 2002. In 1996, it was also included on the sch ...

, by four shots over

Mark McNulty Mark William McNulty (born 24 March 1953) is a Zimbabwean-Irish professional golfer. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, and featured in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for ...

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ' ...

won the next event, the

Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge The Nedbank Golf Challenge, previously known as the Million Dollar Challenge, is an annual men's professional golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few ...

with Els finishing joint third. Els returned with a victory at the next official event, the

Goodyear Classic The Goodyear Classic was a golf tournament on the South African Tour from the 1984 to 1992. It was generally held in December but in the 1989/1990 season it was held in February. The event was held at Humewood Golf Club in Port Elizabeth, South A ...

, by two shots over

Retief Goosen Retief Goosen (born 3 February 1969) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He has won two U.S. Opens, in 2001 and 2004, headed the European Tour Order of Merit in 2001 and 2002, and was in the top ten of th ...

. Fijian

Vijay Singh Vijay Singh ( hif, विजय सिंह ; born 22 February 1963), nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer. He has won 34 events on the PGA Tour, including three major championships: one Masters title (2000) and two ...

won the first event after the Christmas break, the Bell's Cup, defeating McNulty by two shots. McNulty, however, came back and won the following week at the

Lexington PGA Championship The South African PGA Championship is one of the most prestigious golf tournaments on the Sunshine Tour. It is generally played in February, depending on the Tour Schedule, with a prize fund of 2 million rand, and is currently held at Eye of Afri ...

by one shot over a number of players, including

Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price (born 28 January 1957) is a Zimbabwean retired professional golfer who has won three major championships in his career: the PGA Championship twice (in 1992 and 1994) and The Open Championship in 1994. In the mid-19 ...

. At the fifth official tournament, the

Mount Edgecombe Trophy The Mount Edgecombe Trophy was a golf tournament that was played on the Sunshine Tour. Formed in 1993, it included a deep international field of not only Africans, but drawing names like Vijay Singh, whose best finish in the event was a tie for ...

, Goosen won his first event of the season, defeating runner-up Price by five shots. Price returned with a victory the following week at the

ICL International The ICL International was a golf tournament in South Africa as part of the South African Tour. International stars like Gary Player, Nick Faldo, and Nick Price won the event. The tournament was initially played at Kensington Golf Club in Johann ...

. In the later part of the season, a number of less notable players defeated the top performers. At the seventh event, the Philips South African Open,

Clinton Whitelaw Clinton John Whitelaw (born 24 December 1970) is a South African professional golfer. Early life Whitelaw was born in Johannesburg. Professional career In 1990, he turned professional. Whitelaw has competed predominantly on the Southern Af ...

was victorious by two shots over Goosen. The following week, at the Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic,

Sean Pappas Sean Critton Pappas (19 February 1966 – 7 June 2015) was a professional golfer from South Africa. Early life Pappas was born in Phalaborwa, South Africa. He is the second oldest of four brothers Craigen (born 1959), Deane (born 1967), and ...

defeated Els in a playoff. At the final event of the season, the EVS South African Masters, Zimbabwean

Tony Johnstone Anthony Alastair Johnstone (born 2 May 1956) is a Zimbabwean professional golfer. Early life Johnstone was born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia. He attended Christian Brothers College. Professional career In 1979, Johnstone turned professional and h ...

defeated

Roger Wessels Roger Mark Wessels (born 4 March 1961) is a South African professional golfer. Career Wessels was born in Port Elizabeth. He turned professional at a relatively late age in 1987, without having had any major successes as an amateur. Despite t ...

by a shot with McNulty, Els, and Goosen all several shots back.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1992–93 season.

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the Southern Africa Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Order of Merit

The

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...

was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in

South African rand The South African rand, or simply the rand, ( sign: R; code: ZAR) is the official currency of the Southern African Common Monetary Area: South Africa, Namibia (alongside the Namibian dollar), Lesotho (alongside the Lesotho loti) and Eswatini ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:1992-93 Southern Africa Tour Sunshine Tour