2017 was another bumper year in golf where Trump played with Ernie, Rory fired his caddie and Louis pulled out of the Joburg Open through injury, here’s the 10 most read stories.
1. Branden Grace’s generous donation
In the wake of the devastating Knysna fires, Grace, who grew up 20 odd km’s away in Buffelsbaai, donated R1.5-million to the relief efforts.
See the full story here: Grace makes R1.5m donation, calls on help for Knysna
2. Els penalises himself
Instead of recording an eagle at the par 5 12th at Wentworth, the Big Easy imposed a two-shot penalty after feeling uncomfortable with how the ball came out from a lie where he had checked his ball.
See the full story here: Els reveals why he penalised himself
3. Louis’ take on his runner-up slam
One of the viral videos of the year, Oosthuizen ‘took to the mic’ after completing the unwanted feat of finishing second in all four Majors.
See the full story here: Louis’ hilarious take on runner-up slam
4. Rory ditches JP Fitzgerald
After nine years and four Majors, Rory parted ways with caddie Fitzgerald. The pair’s split was a long-time coming according to many insiders in a year which saw McIlroy struggle with his iron play. Of course, this one just one high-profile caddie split (think Mickleson, Day and Willett).
See the full story here: Rory fires caddie – report
5. Airport calamity costs Oosthuizen
SA’s number one was ruled out of the Joburg Open after getting his fingers caught in an airport trolley. Instead of trying and then probably pulling out after a few shots, Oosthuizen gave up his spot to allow someone else to participate.
See the full story here: Freak injury forces Oosthuizen withdrawal
6. McIlroy takes on Elkington
The Northern Irishman had a tough year; he lost in a playoff at the SA Open and hurt his back in the process. That injury hampered his progress all year and he went winless. After missing the US Open cut (as did world number Dustin Johnson), he was called out on Twitter by Steve Elkington (remember him?!) but did not take it lying down.
See the full story here: Elkington calls out Rory, gets what he deserved
7. The Big Easy plays with Donald Trump
The President of the USA has been big news all year. That spilt over into the golf world when he teed it up with a number of world stars. One of them being South Africa’s Ernie Els. The story caused plenty of controversy but Els was unflappable. ‘A lot of my own friends were not for (Trump). They kind of needled me a little bit, saying I was a suck-up. I just said, “Go eff yourself. I played with the President and you haven’t.” You can’t please everybody. It was just golf and a good time.’
See the full story here: Els has a Trump card
8. Schwartzel hits from hotel room
The #NGC2017 had plenty of great action but Charl drew plenty of attention onto himself for creating a new range at Sun City – his hotel room …
See the full story here: Schwartzel creates new ‘range’
9. What Arnold Palmer said in his letter to Ernie
Els revealed the letter written to him by the late Arnold Palmer after his triumph at the 2012 Open Championship.
See the full story here: Els reveals Arnold Palmer letter following 2012 win
10. The day Ernie met Phil
The year was 1984 when a gangly teen from South Africa dared to take on the hometown hero.
See the full story here: Ernie, Phil recall their first battle
