Journeyman Tjaart van der Walt is playing good golf again after frequenting many tours over the years. He can be pleased with his tie for tenth place at the Nordea Masters as he looks to rediscover the form that secured him his card on the PGA Tour earlier in his career.
The 41-year-old has had stints on the PGA Tour, the Web.com Tour, the Sunshine Tour and the European Tour. In addition to this he even tried his hand on the Asian Tour where he won rookie of the year in 2011.
The Pretoria born golfer’s PGA Tour adventure came between 2004 and 2006 before he lost his card. In the three seasons across the pond, Van der Walt accumulated just under $918,000. His highlight came at the 2005 Buick Championship (now known as the Travelers Championship) where he finished runner up to Brad Faxon. His next best finish on tour was a tie for 10th at the 2006 FedEx St. Jude Classic.
After losing his card, his focus shifted to to the Web.com Tour.. He also played sporadically on the Sunshine Tour with minimal impact.
Signs emerged that Van der Walt had rediscovered form in 2011 when he recorded five top-10 finishes while campaigning on the Asian Tour with a best result of tied-second at the ISPS Handa Singapore Classic. His year ended in excellent fashion as he secured his European Tour card for the 2012 season.
His outings on the tour in 2012 to 2013 did not set the world alight but did bring much improved performances. A tie for second at the 2012 Africa Open was backed up by a tie for fifth at the same event a year later. Van der Walt claimed yet another runner-up finish when he came second at the 2013 Najeti Hotels Open. The George resident won the first event of his career at the 2013 Lion of Africa Cape Town Open.
2014 and 2015 proved not be as successful but did return nine top-20 performances while he campaigned on the European and Sunshine Tours.
Up to the Nordea Masters, Van der Walt’s 2016 season had only produced two top-25 performances with a best of tied-22nd at the Dimension Data Pro-Am.
His first top-10 finish of the year will hopefully prove a a catalyst as he looks to reignite his career or at the least get back to the form he showed in 2013. The 41-year-old, bar his opening round in Sweden, broke par in three consecutive rounds and will hope to take this forward as he tees it up at the Lyoness Open in Austria this coming week.
