Tjaart van der Walt (born 25 September 1974) 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 ...

Career

Like many top golfers, van der Walt received a golf scholarship to study in the United States, attending

Central Alabama Community College Central Alabama Community College (CACC) is a public community college in Alexander City, Alabama. The college enrolls over 1,500 students and has been accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools ...

. He turned professional in 1996 and immediately joined his home tour in South Africa, 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 ...

. He finished 45th in the Order of Merit in his first season as a professional, and improved to 7th the following year. In 1999, van der Walt attempted to qualify for the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

, and was successful enough to earn a place on the

Nationwide Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...

for 2000, prompting him to return to the U.S. He played successfully on that tour until 2003, recording runner-up finishes in his first two years, and choosing not to take up a place 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 ...

he had won for 2001 at the

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

, in preference for another Nationwide season. In 2003, van der Walt successfully came through the PGA Tour qualifying school and secured himself a PGA Tour place for 2004. He spent the following three seasons at the level, with his best result coming in 2005 when he lost a playoff to

Brad Faxon Bradford John Faxon Jr. (born August 1, 1961) is an American professional golfer. He has won eight times on the PGA Tour. Early years and amateur career Faxon was born in Oceanport, New Jersey and raised in Barrington, Rhode Island. He attended Fu ...

for the Buick Championship. In 2007, van der Walt returned to the Nationwide Tour, recording another runner-up finish. He was a Nationwide regular until losing his place on that tour at the end of 2010. For 2011, van der Walt qualified for the first time for the

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for ...

. In his first season on that tour he compiled five top-10 finishes in ten events, including a runner-up at the

ISPS Handa Singapore Classic The ISPS Handa Singapore Classic was a golf tournament on the Asian Tour from 2010 to 2012 at the Orchid Country Club in Singapore. It was played for the first time in September 2010. The purse was US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; ...

, and finished 17th on the Order of Merit. At the end of the season he was named Asian Tour Rookie of the Year.Pagunsan honoured at awards gala
/ref> After his 2011 season, van der Walt entered qualifying school for the European Tour once more. Eleven years after previously earning his card at the school, he was once again successful in ensuring a place on the tour for 2012. In the season opening event of the 2012 European Tour, van der Walt finished runner-up in the

Africa Open The Africa Open was a golf tournament on the Sunshine Tour held in Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was first contested in February 2008, over the Gary Player designed championship course at the Fish River Sun Country Club, near Port Alfred. In o ...

to compatriot

Louis Oosthuizen Lodewicus Theodorus "Louis" Oosthuizen (; born 1982) is a South African professional golfer who won the 2010 Open Championship. He has finished runner-up in all four major championships: the 2012 Masters Tournament, the 2015 and 2021 U.S. Open ...

by two strokes. Van der Walt has maintained a commitment to his home Sunshine Tour. Since his debut season in 1996–97 he has never played fewer than five tournaments a year on the tour, and has never finished lower than 70th on the Order of Merit. Van der Walt has recorded an array of runners-up finishes across the globe, including the Sunshine Tour, Nationwide Tour, PGA Tour, European Tour and Asian Tour, but was never able to win a professional event until 2013. Van der Walt won the 2013 Lion of Africa Cape Town Open on the

, seventeen years after turning pro. In 2017, Van der Walt co-founded AnchorUp Sports – an exclusive talent management agency working with a select group of the world's top golfers. He currently holds the position of managing director at the company.

Professional wins (1)

Sunshine Tour wins (1)

Playoff record

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1) European Tour playoff record (0–1) Asian Tour playoff record (0–1) Nationwide Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

''Note: van der Walt never played in the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first ma ...

or the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships

"T" = Tied

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van der Walt, Tjaart South African male golfers Central Alabama Trojans men's golfers Sunshine Tour golfers European Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers Asian Tour golfers Golfers from Pretoria Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States Sportspeople from Durban Golfers from Houston 1974 births Living people