Justin Adam Harding (born 9 February 1986) is a South African
professional golfer
A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...
.
Amateur career
Harding attended
Paul Roos Gymnasium
Paul Roos Gymnasium is a public, dual medium (Afrikaans & English) high school for boys in the town of Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa, and opened on the 1st of March 1866 as Stellenbosch Gymnasium. It is the 12th oldest school in the c ...
in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and played college golf at
Lamar University
Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2021, th ...
in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
and represented his country as an amateur golfer.
Professional career
Having graduated, he earned a place on the
Sunshine 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 ...
at the first attempt, finishing third at the 2009
qualifying school
In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...
while still an amateur. He won a tournament in each of his first three seasons on the tour, 2010, 2011 and 2012. He won again in 2015 and 2016 and then twice in two weeks in 2018.
In July 2018 Harding made a rare appearance outside Africa and won the
Bank BRI Indonesia Open on the
Asian Tour
The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Wor ...
by a stroke from
Scott Vincent
Scott Vincent (December 24, 1922 – May 31, 1979) was an American radio and television announcer and newscaster.
Radio
Scott Vincent was a staff announcer for nearly 25 years at ABC's flagship owned-and-operated station WABC-TV in New Yo ...
. Two weeks later he won the
Royal Cup in Thailand by 6 strokes, his fourth win in three months.
Alan Burns has caddied full time for Harding since October 2018.
In March 2019, Harding got his first
European Tour
The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...
victory by winning the
Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
The Qatar Masters was a European Tour golf tournament held at Doha Golf Club in Doha, Qatar. When founded in 1998, it was one of two European Tour events to be staged in the Arabian Peninsula, but was at one point, one of six. From 2005 to 2007 ...
by two strokes over nine runners-up. He was a joint runner-up in the
Kenya Open
The Kenya Open, titled as the Magical Kenya Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament in Kenya founded in 1967.
History
The Kenya Open was an associate event on the Far East Circuit in 1967 and 1968, after which it became a ...
the following week, a result that lifted him into the world top 50 and gave him an entry into the
2019 Masters Tournament
The 2019 Masters Tournament was the 83rd edition of the Masters Tournament and the first of golf's four major championships in 2019, held between April 11 and 14 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.
Tiger Woods won his fifth Gr ...
. He finished in a share of 12th place to earn his place at the
2020 Masters Tournament.
In March 2021, Harding shot a final-round 66 to win the
Magical Kenya Open
The Kenya Open, titled as the Magical Kenya Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament in Kenya founded in 1967.
History
The Kenya Open was an associate event on the Far East Circuit in 1967 and 1968, after which it became a ...
by two shots ahead of
Kurt Kitayama
Kurt Shun Kitayama (born January 14, 1993) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. On the European Tour, he won the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in December 2018 and the Oman Open in March 2019.
Early life
Kitayama was bo ...
.
Amateur wins
*2005 Sanlam Cape Province Open, Western Province Strokeplay Open, Vodacom North West Open
*2006 Pilsner Urquell Southern Cape Open Champion
Professional wins (11)
European Tour wins (2)
European Tour playoff record (0–1)
Asian Tour wins (2)
Sunshine Tour wins (7)
Sunshine Tour playoff record (2–2)
Results in major championships
''Results not in chronological order in 2020.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
Results in World Golf Championships
1Cancelled due to
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Justin
South African male golfers
Lamar Cardinals golfers
Sunshine Tour golfers
LIV Golf players
People from Somerset West
Sportspeople from Cape Town
White South African people
1986 births
Living people
21st-century South African people