Wayne Westner

Wayne Westner
Personal information
Full name Wayne Brett Westner
Nickname Westy
Born (1961-09-28)28 September 1961
Johannesburg, South Africa
Died 4 January 2017(2017-01-04) (aged 55)
Pennington, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 82 kg (181 lb; 12.9 st)
Nationality  South Africa
Spouse Alison Jean Westner
Career
Turned professional 1982
Former tour(s) Sunshine Tour
European Tour
Professional wins 12
Number of wins by tour
European Tour 2
Sunshine Tour 11
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament DNP
U.S. Open T50: 1996
The Open Championship T34: 1993
PGA Championship DNP
Achievements and awards
Sunshine Tour
Order of Merit winner		 1995/96

Wayne Brett Westner (28 September 1961 – 4 January 2017) was a South African golfer. He was twice winner of the South African Open and also won twice on the European Tour. In partnership with Ernie Els, they won the 1996 World Cup of Golf, played at the Erinvale Golf Club near Cape Town. Els won the individual event with Westner second and the pair won the team event by 18 shots.

Biography

Westner was born in Johannesburg. He turned professional in 1981 and won several events in his home country, including two South African Opens. He spent many years on the European Tour where he won two tournaments and had a best Order of Merit finish of twentieth in 1993. In the 1992 Carroll's Irish Open, he lost to Nick Faldo at the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff. In partnership with Ernie Els, they won the 1996 World Cup of Golf for South Africa. Westner finished second, behind Els, in the individual event and the pair won the team event by 18 shots. He won the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in 1995/96.

At the 1998 Madeira Island Open, during the pre-tournament Pro-Am, Westner tore ankle ligaments after falling over six feet when a railway sleeper crumbled under him.[1] He played only once more that season, and was never able to recover. He later ran his own golf college, The Wayne Westner Golf College.[2]

Westner committed suicide in Pennington, KwaZulu-Natal, on 4 January 2017. [3]

Professional wins

European Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 31 Jan 1993 Dubai Desert Classic −14 (69-66-69-70=274) 2 strokes South Africa Retief Goosen
2 25 Feb 1996 FNB Players Championship1 −18 (66-67-67-70=270) 1 stroke Argentina José Cóceres

1 Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour.

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1992 Carroll's Irish Open England Nick Faldo Lost after concession on fourth extra hole

Sunshine Tour wins (11)

Results in major championships

Tournament 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
U.S. Open T50
The Open Championship CUT CUT 71 CUT T34 CUT CUT CUT

Note: Westner never played in the Masters Tournament nor the PGA Championship.

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Team appearances

References

  1. ↑ Oakley, John (18 June 1998). "Old club aids Bottomley". The Independent. London. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
  2. ↑ Keogh, Brian (16 December 2015). "Wayne's world – Westner wants to bring golf to the masses with simple invention". Irish Golf Desk. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  3. ↑ "Troubled Off The Tee". golf.com. 4 January 2017.
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