Louis Oosthuizen and five other South Africans will tee off for the first Major of the year on Thursday when the much-anticipated PGA Championship starts at TPC Harding Park.
Oosthuizen has been paired alongside the talented duo of Max Homa and Matt Fitzpatrick, which should make for an interesting opening two rounds.
The 37-year-old Oosthuizen will be carrying some momentum into the event after claiming only his third top-1o finish of the year during last week’s WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational after securing an impressive T6.
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Having overcome the severe disruption of being infected with Covid-19, Dylan Frittelli has been playing with abandon in recent weeks and has done particularly well under circumstances on the PGA Tour’s resumption.
The 30-year-old managed a T8 at the RBC Heritage in June and also performed well at the recent 3M Open. He will tee off alongside John O’Leary and South Korea’s Sung Kang in the third group on Thursday.
Erik van Rooyen, though, could be set for a massive week in San Francisco as he goes about his quest to knock on the door for a first Major title. His performance at the PGA Championship could be pivotal going forward for the talented South African after a consistent year on Tour for him.
He play with Russell Henley and Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz in the first two rounds.
Similarly, Christiaan Bezuidenhout is also primed for a big week after his solid performance at TPC Southwind.
The 26-year-old appears to be getting more and more comfortable and is developing solid confidence to challenge for some of the higher spots at a big event like a Major.
Bezuidenhout has been paired with the American duo of Tyler Duncan and JR Roth.
Charl Schwartzel’s experience at Majors will be a handy boost heading into the PGA Championship as he looks to build on that top-three finish at the 3M Open two weeks ago.
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His ability to thrive on the big stage and use the pressures that go with it to his advantage will be handy capabilities for such an important event.
Schwartzel will also be in for an interesting battle with young Abraham Ancer and Joohyung Kim.
In what will only be his third appearance at a Major, Shaun Norris’ week will be all about learning and dealing with the sort of expectations that surrounds championship golf.
He will play the opening two rounds with Jim Herman and Rob Labritz in a golden opportunity to make his presence felt.
