With World No 2 Rory McIlroy taking on South Africa’s rising star George Coetzee in today’s first round of the WGC-Accenture Matchplay Championship, many US viewers will be wondering just who this young star is.
For us at Compleat Golfer, Coetzee’s rise to the top echelon of world golf is not too surprising. Just a year or so ago, Coetzee’s coach, PGA professional Jamie Gough, told us, “Watch this kid, he’s going to be massive.”
George Coetzee's career
At that stage the youngster from Pretoria had just broken onto the European Tour and was finding his feet quite nicely. Fast-forward 18 months and Coetzee has, despite not getting his first European Tour win, climbed from 450th in the world to a career-high 66th on the back of 12 top-10 finishes. He also finished last year ranked 26th in the Race to Dubai.
At age 25, Coetzee one of the hottest prospects in world golf at the moment and, with four Sunshine Tour wins under his belt, there’s a feeling in local and European golfing circles that his breakthrough win is just around the corner.
Given the recent run of South African success on the European Tour – four of the last seven winners have come from the tip of Africa – it’s hard to argue against the fact that he’s due. Last year he won the Telkom PGA Championship of South Africa, one of the biggest events on the Sunshine Tour.
Coaches comments
We asked Gough to elaborate on his game.
“He’s long off the tee, very powerful,” Gough said. “He’s a good putter, not brilliant, but his chipping is just incredible. I’ve never seen anyone chip and pitch like him.”
With a physique that resembles a throwback to the golfers of yesteryear and a quiet demeanour on the course, it is easy to underestimate George Coetzee. For Rory McIlroy’s sake, we hope he’s done his homework.
I'm not saying Coetzee will win the WGC-Accenture Matchplay Championship this year, but Rory McIlroy definitely shouldn't underestimate him.
George Coetzee
Born: 18 July 1986
Age: 25
2005 SA Amateur champion
Turned pro: 2007
Pro wins: 5
Equipment sponsor: Titleist
Best Major performance: 15th in 2011 Open Championship
2011 Race to Dubai: 26tt
World Ranking: 66th
