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Christiaan Bezuidenhout

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Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Personal information
NicknameC-Bez[1]
Born (1994-05-18) 18 May 1994 (age 30)
Delmas, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Sporting nationality South Africa
ResidenceJohannesburg, South Africa
Spouse
Kristen Hart
​
(m. 2021)​
Career
Turned professional2015
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Sunshine Tour
Former tour(s)European Tour
Professional wins10
Highest ranking33 (31 January 2021)[2]
(as of 17 November 2024)
Number of wins by tour
European Tour3
Sunshine Tour4
Challenge Tour1
Other5
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT38: 2020
PGA ChampionshipT30: 2021
U.S. OpenT31: 2021
The Open ChampionshipT49: 2023
Achievements and awards
Big Easy Tour
Order of Merit winner		2015
Sunshine Tour
Rookie of the Year		2016–17
Sunshine Tour
Order of Merit winner		2020–21

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (pronounced [ˈkrəstijɑːn bəˈzœidənˌɦəut]; born 18 May 1994) is a South African professional golfer who is a three-time winner on the European Tour. He won the 2019 Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters and, in consecutive weeks, the 2020 Alfred Dunhill Championship and 2020 South African Open.

Amateur career

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As an amateur, Bezuidenhout received a drug suspension after testing positive for beta blockers at the 2014 Amateur Championship. Bezuidenhout was using them for anxiety and a stutter after an accidental poisoning at the age of two. The suspension was originally for two years but was later reduced to nine months.[3]

Professional career

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Bezuidenhout turned professional in early 2015.[4] He had success in September 2015 winning two 36-hole events on the Big Easy Tour, losing in a playoff for the Big Easy Tour Championship and also winning the Order of Merit.

In December 2015, Bezuidenhout won the Sunshine Tour Q School. In the first event of the season, the 2016 BMW SA Open, co-sanctioned with the European Tour, he finished runner-up to Brandon Stone.[5] Later in 2016, he won a smaller tournament on the Sunshine Tour, the Sun Fish River Challenge, and finished runner-up in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final. Bezuidenhout started 2017 with 5th-place finishes in both the Eye of Africa PGA Championship and the Dimension Data Pro-Am. He was the 2016–17 Sunshine Tour Rookie of the Year, awarded the Bobby Locke Trophy.[6]

Bezuidenhout played several 2017 Challenge Tour events. He finished tied for 25th place in the European Tour Q-School to gain a place on the main tour for 2018. Bezuidenhout made the cut in 20 of his 26 2018 European Tour starts. His best finish was tied for 17th place, and he finished 105th in the Order of Merit, just retaining his card for 2019.

Bezuidenhout was one of nine runners-up in the 2019 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters behind Justin Harding. He also tied for 4th place in the Hero Indian Open and third place in the BMW International Open. The following week he won the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters and with the win earned entry into the 2019 Open Championship.[3][4][6] He was third in the 2019 BMW PGA Championship to enter the world top 100 for the first time and finished the season 18th in the European Tour Order of Merit.

In January 2020, Bezuidenhout lost in a sudden death playoff at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic to Lucas Herbert. Playing his final hole, he held the outright lead but found the water with his third shot resulting in a bogey finish. He lost the playoff to a birdie on the second extra hole. The following month he won the Dimension Data Pro-Am in South Africa and advanced into the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking. Bezuidenhout trailed by a stroke coming to the final hole but made an eagle 3 to beat George Coetzee by one.[7]

In November 2020, Bezuidenhout won the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club. A final round 69 was good enough to help him win by four shots. 54-hole leader Adrian Meronk let his lead slide by shooting a final round 76.[8] A week later, Bezuidenhout claimed a wire-to-wire victory at the South African Open which was played at Gary Player Country Club. He became the first player with back-to-back victories on the European Tour since Justin Rose in 2017.[9]

Bezuidenhout recorded his best finish on the PGA Tour in July 2022. He finished tied-second at the John Deere Classic, three shots behind J. T. Poston. This result also gave him a place in the 2022 Open Championship.[10]

In September 2022, Bezuidenhout was selected for the International team in the 2022 Presidents Cup; he played two matches, winning one and tying the other.[11]

In January 2024, Bezuidenhout tied his best finish on the PGA Tour with a runner-up finish at The American Express; one shot behind amateur Nick Dunlap. He claimed first place prize money due to Dunlap's amateur status.[12]

Professional wins (10)

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European Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 30 Jun 2019 Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters −10 (66-68-69-71=274) 6 strokes Spain Adri Arnaus, Spain Eduardo de la Riva,
France Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Spain Álvaro Quirós,
Spain Jon Rahm
2 29 Nov 2020 Alfred Dunhill Championship1 −14 (69-68-68-69=274) 4 strokes England Richard Bland, United States Sean Crocker,
Poland Adrian Meronk, South Africa Jayden Schaper
3 6 Dec 2020 South African Open1 −18 (67-67-67-69=270) 5 strokes Wales Jamie Donaldson

1Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2020 Omega Dubai Desert Classic Australia Lucas Herbert Lost to birdie on second extra hole

Sunshine Tour wins (4)

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Legend
Flagship events (1)
Other Sunshine Tour (3)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 14 Oct 2016 Sun Fish River Challenge −8 (69-69-70=208) 2 strokes South Africa Daniel van Tonder
2 16 Feb 2020 Dimension Data Pro-Am1 −25 (61-67-69-67=264) 1 stroke South Africa George Coetzee
3 29 Nov 2020 Alfred Dunhill Championship2 −14 (69-68-68-69=274) 5 strokes England Richard Bland, United States Sean Crocker,
Poland Adrian Meronk, South Africa Jayden Schaper
4 6 Dec 2020 South African Open2 −18 (67-67-67-69=270) 5 strokes Wales Jamie Donaldson

1Co-sanctioned by the Challenge Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

Big Easy Tour wins (2)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 4 Sep 2015 King's Cup −10 (67-67=134) 3 strokes South Africa Riekus Nortje
2 9 Sep 2015 Glendower GC −1 (68-75=143) 1 stroke South Korea Kim Dong-kwan, South Africa Michael Palmer

IGT Pro Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 25 Mar 2015 Centurion Academy Classic −13 (71-65-67=203) 2 strokes South Africa Werner van Niekerk
2 25 Jul 2015 Sishen Classic −12 (71-66-67=204) 4 strokes South Africa Russell Franz, South Africa Theunis Spangenberg
3 5 Aug 2015 Pro Squad Classic −5 (68-68-75=211) 4 strokes South Africa N. J. Arnoldi, South Africa T. J. Bekker,
South Africa Conway Kunneke

Results in major championships

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Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Masters Tournament T38 T40 T44
PGA Championship CUT T30 CUT CUT CUT
U.S. Open 55 T31 T32
The Open Championship CUT NT T53 T68 T49 CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 2021 2022 2023 2024
The Players Championship T41 T13 T13
  Did not play

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

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Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Championship T29 T32
Match Play NT1 T56 T60 T59
Invitational T20
Champions T17 NT1 NT1 NT1

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Did not play

NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022. The Champions was discontinued from 2023.

Team appearances

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Professional

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Presidents Cup International Team [@IntlTeam] (9 September 2022). "You can just call him C-Bez" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 September 2022 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "Week 5 2021 Ending 31 Jan 2021" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b Huggan, John (30 June 2019). "South African's maiden European Tour win is redemption after questionable drug ban as an amateur". Golf Digest.
  4. ^ a b Tait, Alistair (30 June 2019). "Christiaan Bezuidenhout's first European Tour win comes with Open Championship bonus". Golfweek.
  5. ^ "Young, talented: Christiaan Bezuidenhout (No. 6)". Sunshine Tour. 27 January 2016.
  6. ^ a b Lavner, Ryan (30 June 2019). "From rat poison to winner's circle: Christiaan Bezuidenhout claims Andalucia Masters". Golf Channel.
  7. ^ "Final hole eagle lifts Bezuidenhout to Dimension Data Pro-Am title". Sport 24. 16 February 2020.
  8. ^ "Christiaan Bezuidenhout claims win at Alfred Dunhill Championship". Polish News. 29 November 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ "South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout wins again on home soil". The Northern Echo. Press Association. 6 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Bezuidenhout books Open berth with T2 finish". Compleat Golfer. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  11. ^ Beall, Joel (25 September 2022). "Presidents Cup 2022: Our grades for all 24 players, from an A+ for Spieth to an F for Scheffler". Golf Digest. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  12. ^ Strege, John (21 January 2024). "Christiaan Bezuidenout drains million-dollar putt on 72nd hole, claims first-place money for second-place finish". Golf Digest. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
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