2007 Sunshine Tour

2007 Sunshine Tour season
Duration11 January 2007 (2007-01-11) – 16 December 2007 (2007-12-16)
Number of official events28
Most winsSouth Africa Louis Oosthuizen (3)
Order of MeritSouth Africa James Kingston
Rookie of the YearEngland Ross McGowan
2008 →

The 2007 Sunshine Tour was the 37th season of the Sunshine Tour (formerly the Southern Africa Tour), the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2007 season.[1]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R) 		Winner[a] OWGR
points 		Other
tours[b] 		Notes
14 Jan Joburg Open Gauteng €1,000,000 Argentina Ariel Cañete (n/a) 20 EUR New tournament
28 Jan Dimension Data Pro-Am North West 1,600,000 South Africa Louis Oosthuizen (2) 14 Pro-Am
4 Feb Nashua Masters Eastern Cape 1,200,000 South Africa Jean Hugo (5) 14
18 Feb Vodacom Championship Gauteng 2,200,000 South Africa Richard Sterne (2) 14
25 Feb Telkom PGA Championship Gauteng 2,250,000 South Africa Louis Oosthuizen (3) 14
11 Mar Mount Edgecombe Trophy KwaZulu-Natal 500,000 South Africa Steve van Vuuren (7) n/a
1 Apr Finance Bank Zambia Open Zambia 750,000 South Africa Steve Basson (3) n/a
15 Apr Eskom Power Cup North West 400,000 South Africa Chris Swanepoel (1) n/a
20 Apr Vodacom Origins of Golf at Arabella Western Cape 400,000 South Africa Andrew Curlewis (1) n/a
5 May Samsung Royal Swazi Sun Open Swaziland 600,000 South Africa Des Terblanche (7) n/a
11 May Vodacom Origins of Golf at Pretoria Gauteng 400,000 South Africa Hennie Otto (7) n/a
19 May Suncoast Classic KwaZulu-Natal 400,000 Brazil Adilson da Silva (3) n/a
10 Jun Lombard Insurance Classic Swaziland 350,000 South Africa Peter Karmis (1) n/a New tournament
15 Jun Vodacom Origins of Golf at Selborne KwaZulu-Natal 400,000 South Africa George Coetzee (1) n/a
30 Jun Nashua Golf Challenge North West 400,000 South Africa Warren Abery (6) n/a New tournament
3 Aug Vodacom Origins of Golf at Bloemfontein Free State 400,000 South Africa Ulrich van den Berg (5) n/a
24 Aug Vodacom Origins of Golf at Fancourt Western Cape 400,000 Brazil Adilson da Silva (4) n/a
31 Aug Telkom PGA Pro-Am Gauteng 350,000 South Africa Michiel Bothma (2) n/a
8 Sep Seekers Travel Pro-Am Gauteng 400,000 South Africa James Kamte (1) n/a
28 Sep Vodacom Origins of Golf Final Eastern Cape 400,000 South Africa Titch Moore (6) n/a
7 Oct Bearing Man Highveld Classic Mpumalanga 400,000 Zimbabwe Marc Cayeux (8) n/a
20 Oct MTC Namibia PGA Championship Namibia 700,000 South Africa Keith Horne (2) n/a
27 Oct Platinum Classic North West 705,000 South Africa Louis Oosthuizen (4) n/a
22 Nov Coca-Cola Charity Championship Western Cape 500,000 South Africa Titch Moore (7) n/a
28 Nov Nedbank Affinity Cup North West 500,000 South Africa Mark Murless (3) n/a New tournament
2 Dec Nedbank Golf Challenge North West US$4,385,000 South Africa Trevor Immelman (5) 34 Limited-field event
9 Dec Alfred Dunhill Championship Mpumalanga €1,000,000 England John Bickerton (n/a) 22 EUR
16 Dec South African Airways Open Western Cape €1,000,000 South Africa James Kingston (7) 32 EUR Flagship event

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R) 		Winner OWGR
points 		Other
tours[b] 		Notes
11 Nov HSBC Champions China US$5,000,000 United States Phil Mickelson 52 ANZ,[c] ASA,[d] EUR Limited-field event

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[2][3]

Position Player Prize money (R)
1 South Africa James Kingston 1,980,689
2 South Africa Louis Oosthuizen 1,596,846
3 South Africa Andrew McLardy 1,387,475
4 South Africa Hennie Otto 1,331,376
5 South Africa Richard Sterne 966,547

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) England Ross McGowan [4]

Notes

  1. ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Sunshine Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Sunshine Tour members.
  2. ^ a b ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour; EUR − European Tour.
  3. ^ PGA Tour of Australasia unofficial event
  4. ^ Asian Tour unofficial event

References

  1. ^ "2007 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  2. ^ "2007 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  3. ^ Winter, Grant (17 December 2007). "Final 71 nets extra R2m for Kingston". Independent Online. Retrieved 9 September 2023. This victory for Kingston is huge. Not only is it worth R1.6m in prizemoney, but it means he has finished No 1 on the 2007 Order of Merit.
  4. ^ "Ross has a lot of Shine". Daily Mirror. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2023. Ross McGowan was named the 2007 Bobby Locke Rookie of the Year after a superb debut season on the Sunshine Tour.