BELEK, TURKEY - APRIL 30: Jayden Schaper of South Africa looks across the third hole on day one of the Turkish Airlines Open 2026 at National Golf Club on April 30, 2026 in Belek, Turkey. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Five South Africans will be looking to upset the odds and land their first golfing Major when they tee it up at this year’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania from Thursday.
America’s Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion and one of the favourites this week, along with Masters winner, Rory McIlroy.
Past PGA Championship winners Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka will also have backers this week, as will in-form English brothers Matthew and Alex Fitzpatrick.
Cameron Young, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau will also be closely watched.
The last time a South African won a Major was in 2012 when Ernie Els triumphed at the Open. Charl Schwartzel was the Masters in 2011 and Louis Oosthuizen won the Open in 2010.
Five SA golfers seeking glory
The five South Africans hoping to impress at the year’s second Major are Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Garrick Higgo, Casey Jarvis, Aldrich Potgieter and Jayden Schaper.
All of them are ranked in the world’s top 100, with Schaper the best of the bunch at 65. In the last few months, he has won twice on the DP World Tour, but is a rookie at Major level, this being his debut event. The 25-year-old has good form behind him though and has the ability to turn it on anywhere.
Jarvis, who won the SA Open earlier this year, for his second DP World Tour title in as many weeks, and also played at the Masters, is ranked 72nd in the world. He will take the experience of playing at Augusta into this week’s tournament and will hope to feature in all four rounds.
The big-hitting Potgieter, a one-time PGA Tour winner, has been playing top-level golf in the USA for a while now, but he will want to improve on his poor showing at the Masters. At 75 in the world, he’s got the game to impress, and win, and has been trending upwards since the missed cut at Augusta last month.
Higgo is a two-time PGA Tour winner but he’s struggled for consistency this season, missing seven cuts in 12 starts in 2026. His best finish was a tied-40th back in February. He’ll hope for something special to happen this week.
Bezuidenhout has been playing on the PGA Tour for several years now, but he, too, has struggled of late. The 31-year-old, however, finished in a tie for sixth at Myrtle Beach last week which will give him confidence at this week’s tournament.
