Rory earns a first class ticket

Rory Sabbatini should not have to wait too long to start reaping the benefits of his fine maiden US Tour victory in the Air Canada Open.

Apart from the fact that Sabbatini has topped the million dollar mark in single-year earnings as well as earning a place in the rich Tour Championship he must be a shoo-in to receive an invitation to represent South Africa in the Alfred Dunhill Cup to be held at St Andrews from October 12 to 15.

Sabbatini’s win moved him up to 29th place on the US Tour money list with earnings of $1,119,902, but more significantly he improved his world-ranking to 80th. With David Frost having slipped to 160th it seems likely therefore that Sabbatini will replace veteran Frost and join Ernie Els (No2 in the world) and Retief Goosen (43rd) in South Africa’s three-man team.

Although his name does not appear on the honours list of South Africa’s major amateur championships the 24-year-old Sabbatini, who learnt his golf in the testing winds of Royal Durban, has emerged has South Africa’s leading young golfing prospect.

With Els having turned 30 last October the focus is gradually starting to shift to whom of South Africa’s many fine young golfers might continue to build on the extraordinary achievements of the like of Bobby Locke, Gary Player and the Big Easy himself.

It really is staggering to think that a golfing community as small as South Africa’s has produced a trio who collectively have won 15 major titles. Add the three of Zimbabwe’s Nick Price, who spent his formative years as a professional on the local tour, and you gain an appreciation of the region’s standing as a breeding ground for excellent golfers.

However, as inspirational as this record might be, it can also be a burden for youngsters trying to make their way in the game. No matter what they achieve they will never be able to escape an exacting standard that dictates that true greatness is measured by whether they have won a major championship or not.

Southern Africa has had many outstanding golfers since Player – Bobby Cole, Dale Hayes, Mark McNulty, David Frost, Fulton Allem, Denis Watson, Retief Goosen, to name a few – but only Price and Els have managed to win at the very highest level.

The question must be whether one of a particularly promising group of fledglings who have recently turned professional, among whom Hennie Otto, Jean Hugo, Trevor Immelman, Tim Clark, Andrew McLardy, Tjaart van der Walt, Darren Fichardt, Desvonde Botes, Jaco Olver and the outstanding US-based amateur Michael Kirk, has the ability to reach the top.

Sabbatini, who eschewed the local amateur circuit to study at the University of Arizona, has stolen a march on his rivals. He used the American college circuit to hone his game and earned his playing privileges the hard way by winning a card at tour school.

With limited playing privileges in 1999 he played everywhere he could; finished 3rd at both the BellSouth Classic and the BC Open, earned US$381,322 to finish 108th on the money list and gained a full tour card.

This year Sabbatini came second in the five-round Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and tied 9th in the AT&T at Pebble Beach, quickly pushing his earnings to over the $400,000 mark to realise the first aim of securing his card and he has now realised this promise by entering the winner’s circle.

The former Natal provincial player, whose elder brother Gary has been a stalwart of Natal interprovincial teams, has already lived up to the one piece of advice that Ernie Els has for potential world-beaters.

Asked what it takes to be a champion Els said: “There is no special formula really. You have to believe in your own ability and you have to take your own cash and go and play wherever you can. When I first came to America to play the minor tours I can remember staying in 18 dollar a night motels on the highway where the bed shook every time a truck passed and the only things that ever passed were trucks.

“I shacked up with mates and I slept on the floor. I was lucky that I broke through early – perhaps because I was so desperate to stay in better hotels! – but the only way you will ever know if you are good enough is to get out there, vasbyt and play.”

Els is the first to concede that it is not easy. It’s tough on the emotions, tough on the pocket and finding a place to play is easier said than done.

By winning in America Rory Sabbatini has shown that he has the will, and the game, to accept the challenge.