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Professional golfer

George Coetzee

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The basics

Quick facts

Intro

Professional golfer

Gender:

Male

Places:

South Africa

Is:

Athlete Golfer

Work field:

Sports

Birth:

18 July 1986(Pretoria, South Africa)

Star sign:

Cancer

The details

Biography

Introduction

George William Coetzee (born 18 July 1986) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and Sunshine Tour.

Coetzee was born in Pretoria. 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, where he attended the University of San Diego for one semester. He turned professional in 2007.

Coetzee joined the Sunshine Tour in 2007, and claimed his first win during his rookie season, in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour event at Selborne. His second and third wins came a year later at the SAA Pro-Am Invitational, and the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour event at Humewood.

He earned a European Tour 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 and enjoyed a successful season, with a runner-up placing at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, 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.

Coetzee had a successful 2012 season, finishing 21st on the Race to Dubai and reaching the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

In February 2014, Coetzee won his maiden European Tour title in his 107th start with a three stroke victory at the Joburg Open. He came from four strokes behind in the final round with a six under par 66 to claim victory.

Alan Burns was Coetzee's caddy from 2010 to July 2017. Burns then took another opportunity in July 2017 with another South African golfer Brandon Stone

Coetzee won his second European Tour title at the Tshwane Open in March 2015, by a single stroke over Jacques Blaauw. Both of his wins on the European Tour have come in co-sanctioned events with the Sunshine Tour in South Africa.

In May 2015, Coetzee won his second tournament of the year at the inaugural AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, defeating Thorbjørn Olesen in a sudden-death playoff, at the second extra hole with a birdie on the par-five 18th hole.

In February 2016, Coetzee won the Dimension Data Pro-Am finishing birdie-birdie-eagle to defeat Dean Burmester by a single stroke.

Education

He attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), a popular and renowned public school located in Pretoria.

Professional wins (11)

European Tour wins (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	9 Feb 2014	Joburg Open	65-68-69-66=268	−19	3 strokes	Tyrrell Hatton, Jin Jeong, Justin Walters
2	15 Mar 2015	Tshwane Open	67-66-68-65=266	−14	1 stroke	Jacques Blaauw
3	10 May 2015	AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open	70-67-65-69=271	−13	Playoff	Thorbjørn Olesen
4	4 Mar 2018	Tshwane Open	67-64-68-67=266	−18	2 strokes	Sam Horsfield

Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour
Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2011	Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles	Thomas Bjørn, Mark Foster, Pablo Larrazábal, Bernd Wiesberger	Bjørn won with birdie on fifth extra hole Foster eliminated by par on fourth hole Larrázabal eliminated by par on second hole Wiesberger eliminated by par on first hole
2	2015	AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open	Thorbjørn Olesen	Won with birdie on second extra hole

Sunshine Tour wins (10)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	15 Jun 2007	Vodacom Origins of Golf at Selborne	70-71-66=207	−9	2 strokes	Ulrich van den Berg
2	23 Aug 2008	SAA Pro-Am Invitational	72-66-69=207	−9	3 strokes	Warren Abery, Doug McGuigan
3	19 Sep 2008	Vodacom Origins of Golf at Humewood	71-68-73=212	−4	1 stroke	Jean Hugo
4	27 Feb 2011	Telkom PGA Championship	65-64-68-64=261	−27	2 strokes	Neil Schietekat
5	9 Feb 2014	Joburg Open	65-68-69-66=268	−19	3 strokes	Tyrrell Hatton, Jin Jeong, Justin Walters
6	15 Mar 2015	Tshwane Open	67-66-68-65=266	−14	1 stroke	Jacques Blaauw
7	10 May 2015	AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open	70-67-65-69=271	−13	Playoff	Thorbjørn Olesen
8	21 Feb 2016	Dimension Data Pro-Am	68-70-64-66=268	−21	1 stroke	Dean Burmester
9	4 Mar 2018	Tshwane Open	67-64-68-67=266	−18	2 strokes	Sam Horsfield
10	2 Nov 2019	Vodacom Origins of Golf Final	61-69-66=196	−20	3 strokes	M. J. Viljoen

Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

Sunshine Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2015	AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open	Thorbjørn Olesen	Won with birdie on second extra hole

Other wins (1)

2011 Gary Player Invitational (with Mark James)

Results in major championships

Tournament	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Masters Tournament			CUT
U.S. Open		CUT	T56		T70		CUT
The Open Championship	15	CUT	T71	18	CUT	CUT		CUT
PGA Championship		CUT	CUT	CUT	T7	T60

Top 10

Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

Tournament	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	1	0
U.S. Open	0	0	4	2
The Open Championship	0	2	7	3
PGA Championship	1	1	5	2
Totals	1	3	17	7

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.

Tournament	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2018	2019
Mexico Championship		T53	T16		57		T56
Match Play	R64	R64	R16	T17
FedEx St. Jude Invitational					T21
HSBC Champions	T56	74	T12		T40	T50