South Africa's Thriston Lawrence throws his ball to fans after finishing his third round, on day three of the 152nd British Open Golf Championship at Royal Troon on the south west coast of Scotland Thriston Lawrence will lead the Rainbow Nation’s charge as the Omega European Masters starts on Thursday with 16 golfers from South Africa preparing to tee it up. Picture: Paul Ellis/AFP
No fewer than 16 South African golfers will tee it up at the Omega European Masters starting in Crans Montana, in Switzerland, on Thursday.
Teeing it up this week representing SA will be Justin Harding, Thomas Aiken, Louis de Jager, George Coetzee, Dylan Frittelli, Thriston Lawrence, Brandon Stone, Jaco Prinsloo, Pieter Moolman, Erik van Rooyen, Casey Jarvis, Dylan Mostert, Oliver Bekker, Ockie Strydon, Jayden Schaper, Darren Fichardt.
Leading the challenge will be SA number two Lawrence. The 27-year-old is fresh off a second place at the British Masters last week, as he ended two shots behind champion Niklas Norgaard of Denmark. The top finish took Lawrence to his highest-ever world ranking of 62, having previously reached 63rd in 2022.
At The Open Championship at Royal Troon in July, Lawrence came close to ending SA’s 12-year major drought before settling for fourth place.
It was a disappointing finish for Lawrence who hardly put a foot wrong in an intense final round as he dropped just one shot the entire day, as American Xander Schauffele reeled off some crucial gains when it mattered most on the final nine as the two battled it out for the Claret Jug.
Still it was the first time that Lawrence had played in the final group of a major on Sunday, and his performance was impressive.
Lawrence, of course, will be joined by 15 countryman this week and the highest ranked among them will be Van Rooyen.
The 34-year-old is ranked 68th in the world and will be looking to add to his four top-10 finishes this season. However, Van Rooyen arrives in Switzerland with a best of 17th in his last five starts with two missed cuts.