Jovan Rebula (born 22 July 1997) is a South African

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. In 2018, he became the second South African golfer in history to win

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

. This win gave him exemptions to the

2018 Open Championship The 2018 Open Championship was the 147th Open Championship, and was held from 19–22 July 2018 at Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland. It was the eighth Open Championship to be played at Carnoustie. Playing conditions were unusual as a re ...

2019 Masters Tournament The 2019 Masters Tournament was the 83rd edition of the Masters Tournament and the first of golf's four major championships in 2019, held between April 11 and 14 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Tiger Woods won his fifth Gre ...

and 2019 U.S. Open. In team events, Rebula was the captain of the South African team that competed at the

2016 Eisenhower Trophy The 2016 Eisenhower Trophy took place 21–24 September at the Mayakoba El Camaleón Golf Club and the Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf Club on the Riviera Maya, south of Cancun, Mexico. It was the 30th World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenh ...

. At the following edition, Rebula played in the first round of the

2018 Eisenhower Trophy The 2018 Eisenhower Trophy took place 5–8 September at the Carton House Golf Club in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It was the 31st World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy. The tournament was a 72-hole stroke play team ev ...

as captain before leaving the event due to a back injury.

Early life and education

On 22 July 1997, Rebula was born in

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. During his childhood, Rebula started playing golf at the age of eight while also competing in cricket and rugby. While attending Auburn University for his post-secondary college, Rebula joined the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

men's golf team in 2016. With Auburn at individual events, Rebula finished in the top-10 at seven golf tournaments in the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons. He additionally reached the top-10 at five tournaments each during the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons. In 2020, Rebula opted to remain for an extra year at Auburn instead of becoming a professional golfer. Rebula made his choice while he had stopped playing golf for a month during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. Rebula remained at Auburn until May 2021. During this season, Rebula had a tenth place tie at the 2020 Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate. Rebula was part of the Auburn golf team that won the SEC championship in 2018. During the

2017 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship The 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship was the 79th annual tournament to determine the national champions of NCAA Division I men's golf. It was contested from May 26 to 31 at the Rich Harvest Farms course in Sugar Grove, Illinois and hos ...

, Rebula was tied for 23rd individually while finishing 11th in the team event with Auburn.

Career

Amateur career

As an amateur golfer, Rebula has won multiple events in South Africa throughout the 2010s. As part of the South Africa Golf Association, his wins include the 2012 South African U15 Championship and the 2013 South African Boys U17 Stroke Play. In following years, Rebula won the Proudfoot Trophy in 2014 and was second at the 2015 South African Amateur. In 2018, Rebula became the second South African golfer in history to win

. At American events, Rebula beat

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

champion

Viktor Hovland Viktor Hovland (born 18 September 1997) is a Norwegian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2018 U.S. Amateur and then became the first Norwegian to win on the PGA Tour (at the 2020 Puerto Rico Open) and on the European To ...

to win the 2019 Georgia Cup. For his U.S. Amateur appearances, Rebula missed the cut in 2019 and 2020. During these years, Rebula also missed the cut during the

Western Amateur The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association. The Western Amateur features an international field of top-ranked amateur golfers. It was first ...

in 2020. In team events, Rebula was the captain of the South African team that played at the

. He returned as captain for South Africa at the

but left the event after the first round due to a back injury.

Professional events

Rebula played on the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fif ...

at the 2017

BMW SA Open The South African Open is one of the oldest national open golf championships in the world, having first been played in 1903, and is one of the principal tournaments on the Southern-Africa-based Sunshine Tour. Since 1997 it has also been co-sancti ...

. His best performance at the European Tour was at the 2018 South African Open where he tied for 24th place. Rebula's win at the Amateur Championship gave him an exemption for the

and 2019 U.S Open. At these major championships, Rebula missed the cut in all three events. Rebula qualified to become a

Forme Tour The Forme Tour was a men's professional golf tour played in the United States. The tour was created by the PGA Tour in 2021 in response to COVID-19 pandemic related restrictions on travel between the United States and Canada, in order to provide c ...

player in June 2021 and turned professional. During the Forme Tour, Rebula was tied for 63rd at the 2021 Auburn University Club Invitational. On the

Sunshine Tour The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern and East Africa. For much of its early history it was known either as the South African Tour or Sunshine Circuit; through sponsorship deals, it has also been known as the Vod ...

, Reubla was 10th at the 2021 South African Open and missed the cut at the

Vodacom Origins of Golf Final The Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour is a series of pro-am golf tournaments in South Africa. The series began in 2004 and forms part of the winter swing of the Southern Africa-based Sunshine Tour. 2004–05 season 2005–06 season 2006–07 seaso ...

in 2022.

Personal life

Rebula is the nephew of golfer

Ernie Els Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature (he stands ) along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victor ...

. On his father's side he is of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

n background.

Amateur wins

*2012 South African Under 15 Stroke Play *2013 North & South SA Junior, South African U17 Stroke Play *2014 Nomads National Order of Merit - Coastal 1, Curro South African Juniors International, All Africa Junior Team Championship (individual) *2016 Eastern Province Border Championship, Western Province Strokeplay & Amateur *2018

*2019 SEC Championship, Kiawah Classic at Turtle Point Source:

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order before 2019.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut

Team appearances

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eise ...

(representing South Africa): 2016,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Arnold Palmer Cup The Arnold Palmer Cup is an annual team golf competition for college/university golfers. From 2018 it has been contested between a United States team and an International team representing the rest of the world. The teams consist of 12 men and 12 ...

(representing the International team):

Source:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rebula, Jovan South African male golfers Auburn Tigers men's golfers South African people of Serbian descent Sportspeople from the Western Cape 1997 births Living people