Full Name: Charl Adriaan Schwartzel
Date of Birth: August 31st, 1984
Place of Birth: Johannesburg, South Africa
Nationality: South African
Height: 5ft 11in
Turned Professional: 2002
Photo of Charl Schwartzel by Keith Allison
Charl Schwartzel produced one of the shocks of 2011 when he won the US Masters at Augusta. It confirmed the promise of his victory in the Joburg Open and he eventually finished fourth in the Race To Dubai on the European Tour. He began his 2013 season by destroying the field to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship by 12 shots.
Schwartzel plays on the US PGA Tour, The European Tour, and the Sunshine Tour. He reached a career-best sixth in the Official World Rankings in 2012 after finishing tied for fourth place in the WGC-Cadillac Championship. He was a prolific winner as an amateur, including victories in the 2002 Indian Amateur and English Open Stroke Play Championships. He turned professional when only eighteen years of age qualified for the European Tour in the same year. He did well enough to retain his European Tour card in both 2003 and 2004.
He recorded his first victory on the European Tour in the Dunhill Championship and topped the Sunshine Tour's Order of Merit in 2004. In 2005 he finished just outside the top fifty on the European Tour's Order of Merit and again topped the Sunshine Tour. His victory in the Vodacom Tour Championship allowed him to break into the top 100 in the Official World Rankings for the first time in his career. Steady progress in 2006 enabled him to move to 18th in the Order of Merit and 55th place in the World Rankings.
He showed his prowess for the Sunshine Tour with a third consecutive top placement in 2007 and won the Open de España to break into the world top forty. He produced an eagle on the 16th hole before beating Jyoti Randhawa by one stroke. He success on the European Tour continued with victory in the Madrid Masters in 2008.
He did not land a trophy in 2009 but bounced back in 2010 with consecutive victories in his home country. Schwartzel won the Africa Open by a stroke from Thomas Aileen and followed up with his first Joburg Open, this time by six shots from Darren Clarke and Keith Home. By the end of 2010 he had reached eighth place on the Order of Merit. Schwartzel joined the US PGA Tour in 2011 and retained his Joburg Open title by one stroke from Garth Mallory,
He went on to become only the third South African winner of the US Masters after Gary Player and Trevor Immelman. Going into the final round, Schwartzel trailed Rory McIlroy by four strokes but fired a round of 66, eventually winning by two strokes from Adam Scott and Jason Day. He started the round brilliantly before faltering but finished with four birdies in a row to take the famous green jacket. Far from being overawed by his success, he went on to achieve career-best performances in the other major championships. He finished in a tie for ninth at the US Open, tied for 12th at the US PGA Championship and was in with a chance at the British Open until a third round 75 knocked him back to a tie for 16th.
In December 2012, Schwartzel won the Thailand Golf Championship on the Asian Tour, easing to a massive eleven-stroke victory. He followed up immediately with the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa by twelve shots, the third highest margin of victory in the history of the tour.
