George William Coetzee (born 18 July 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 p ...

. He has won five tournaments on the

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 fi ...

and 13 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 ...

, where he has also topped 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 ...

on two occasions.

Early life

Coetzee was born in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...

and matriculated from the

Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (also known as Affies), is a public Afrikaans medium high school for boys situated in the suburb of Elandspoort in Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The school was founded in 1920 by Jan Joubert and ...

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 San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, where he attended the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Sch ...

for one semester. He turned professional in 2007.

Professional career

Having turned professional, Coetzee joined the

in 2007. He claimed his first win during his rookie season, in the

Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour The Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour is a series of pro-am golf tournaments in South Africa. The series began in 2004 and forms part of the winter swing of the Southern Africa-based Sunshine Tour The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tou ...

event at Selborne. His second and third wins came a year later at the

SAA Pro-Am Invitational Saa or SAA may refer to: Languages * Saa language, a language of Vanuatu * Saba language (ISO 639 code: saa) Law * Space Act Agreement, a type of legal agreement with NASA * Stabilisation and Association Process, for countries seeking to join t ...

, and the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour event at Humewood. He earned a

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 The Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles was a European Tour golf tournament which was played at the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland. The tournament was founded in 1999 as the Scottish PGA Championship, and despite maintaining the same sponsor, ...

, 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 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 fi ...

. The following season, 2012, he finished 21st on the Race to Dubai and reached the top 50 of the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...

. In February 2014, Coetzee won his maiden European Tour title in his 107th start with a three stroke victory at the

Joburg Open The Joburg Open is a men's professional golf tournament that is held in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is an event on the Southern Africa-based Sunshine Tour and co-sanctioned by the European Tour, which attracts a larger prize fund and stronger ...

. 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 The Tshwane Open was a golf tournament played since 2013 in Gauteng Province, South Africa. It was played at Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate in Centurion, South Africa in 2013 and 2014 and moved to Pretoria Country Club in Waterkloof in 2015. It ...

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 The AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open is a men's professional golf tournament, co-sanctioned by the European Tour and Sunshine Tour, as well as formerly being sanctioned by the Asian Tour. It began in 2015 and was played at Heritage Golf Club in Bel-Om ...

, defeating

Thorbjørn Olesen Jacob Thorbjørn Olesen (born 21 December 1989) is a Danish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, where he has won six times including the 2016 Turkish Airlines Open and the 2018 Italian Open. He has also won two important pairs eve ...

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 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

. In February 2016, Coetzee won the

Dimension Data Pro-Am The Dimension Data Pro-Am is an annual golf tournament on the Southern African Sunshine Tour, founded in 1996. The tournament was co-sanctioned by the European Tour for the first two years. In 2020 it was co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour a ...

finishing birdie-birdie-eagle to defeat

Dean Burmester Dean Burmester (born 2 June 1989) is a South African professional golfer who plays in the LIV Golf League, as well as having status on the European Tour and Sunshine Tour. He formerly played on the PGA Tour. Early life Burmester was born in Mut ...

by a single stroke. In July 2017, Alan Burns, who had been Coetzee's

caddie In golf, a caddie (or caddy) is the person who carries a player's bag and clubs, and gives the player advice and moral support. Description A good caddie is aware of the challenges and obstacles of the golf course being played, along with the ...

since 2010, took another opportunity with another South African golfer

Brandon Stone Brandon Stone (born 20 April 1993) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and Sunshine Tour. He represented South Africa at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Amateur career Stone won several amateur tournaments in South A ...

. Coetzee won his second Sunshine Tour Order of Merit title in 2017–18; during the season he won the co-sanctioned

, his fourth European Tour victory. In September 2020, Coetzee won his fifth tournament on the European Tour at the

Portugal Masters The Portugal Masters was a European Tour men's professional golf tournament which was played for the first time in October 2007. It had a prize fund is US$2 million, making it one of the richest golf tournaments in Portugal. It was jointly staged b ...

. This was his first win in mainland Europe and his first European Tour win that was not co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour.

Professional wins (16)

European Tour wins (5)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

²Co-sanctioned by 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 Wo ...

European Tour playoff record (1–1)

Asian Tour wins (1)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

and the

Asian Tour playoff record (1–0)

Sunshine Tour wins (14)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

²Co-sanctioned by the

Sunshine Tour playoff record (1–0)

Other wins (1)

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 identi ...

Summary

*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.'' QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Professional *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing South Africa):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coetzee, George South African male golfers Sunshine Tour golfers European Tour golfers Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent Sportspeople from Pretoria 1986 births Living people

Early life

Professional career

Professional wins (16)

European Tour wins (5)

Asian Tour wins (1)

Sunshine Tour wins (14)

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

Summary

Results in World Golf Championships

Team appearances

See also

References

External links