2010 Sunshine Tour
The 2010 Sunshine Tour was the 11th season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was relaunched in 2000, and the 4th since the tour switched a calendar based season in 2007. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region.
| Duration | 7 January 2010 – 19 December 2010 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 28 |
| Most wins | 4: Jaco van Zyl |
| Order of Merit | Charl Schwartzel |
← 2009 2011 → | |
The tour is based predominantly in South Africa with other events being held in neighbouring countries, including Swaziland, Zambia and Namibia.
As usual, the tour consisted of two distinct parts, commonly referred to as the "Summer Swing" and the "Winter Swing". Tournaments held during the Summer Swing generally have much higher prize funds, attract stronger fields, and are the only tournaments on the tour to carry world ranking points, with some events being co-sanctioned with the European Tour. Since the tour switched to a calendar based season, this part of the tour has been split in two, with some events being held at the start of the year, and the remainder in December. The Winter Swing ran from April to early December.
The Order of Merit was won by Charl Schwartzel.[1]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2010 season.[2]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[lower-alpha 1] | OWGR points |
Other tours[lower-alpha 2] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Jan | Africa Open | Eastern Cape | €1,000,000 | Charl Schwartzel (3) |
20 | EUR | |
| 17 Jan | Joburg Open | Gauteng | €1,300,000 | Charl Schwartzel (4) |
22 | EUR | |
| 14 Feb | Dimension Data Pro-Am | Western Cape | 3,000,000 | Darren Fichardt (10) |
14 | Pro-Am | |
| 21 Feb | Telkom PGA Championship | Gauteng | 3,000,000 | Michiel Bothma (3) |
14 | ||
| 28 Feb | Vodacom Championship | Gauteng | 2,650,000 | Hennie Otto (9) |
14 | ||
| 16 Apr | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Gardener Ross | Gauteng | 510,000 | Jean Hugo (8) |
n/a | ||
| 24 Apr | Africom Zimbabwe Open | Zimbabwe | 1,200,000 | Jbe' Kruger (2) |
14 | ||
| 30 Apr | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Sishen | Free State | 510,000 | Jaco van Zyl (6) |
n/a | ||
| 8 May | Investec Royal Swazi Open | Swaziland | 750,000 | Keith Horne (4) |
n/a | ||
| 15 May | Nashua Golf Challenge | North West | 500,000 | Jaco van Zyl (7) |
n/a | ||
| 6 Jun | Lombard Insurance Classic | Swaziland | 700,000 | Grant Muller (2) |
n/a | ||
| 30 Jul | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Humewood | Eastern Cape | 510,000 | Ulrich van den Berg (6) |
n/a | ||
| 20 Aug | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Selborne | KwaZulu-Natal | 510,000 | James Kingston (10) |
n/a | ||
| 29 Aug | Zambia Open | Zambia | 850,000 |  Adilson da Silva (6) |
n/a | ||
| 3 Sep | Telkom PGA Pro-Am | Gauteng | 500,000 | Jaco van Zyl (8) |
n/a | ||
| 11 Sep | SAA Pro-Am Invitational | Gauteng | 500,000 | Tyrone Ferreira (2) |
n/a | ||
| 18 Sep | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Stellenbosch | Western Cape | 510,000 | Jean Hugo (9) |
n/a | ||
| 25 Sep | SAA Pro-Am Invitational | Western Cape | 500,000 | Jaco van Zyl (9) |
n/a | ||
| 2 Oct | SAA Pro-Am Invitational | KwaZulu-Natal | 500,000 | Michiel Bothma (4) |
n/a | ||
| 15 Oct | Vodacom Origins of Golf Final | Western Cape | 510,000 | Justin Harding (1) |
n/a | ||
| 24 Oct | Suncoast Classic | KwaZulu-Natal | 500,000 | Adilson da Silva (7) |
n/a | ||
| 30 Oct | Platinum Classic | North West | 705,000 | Jean Hugo (10) |
n/a | ||
| 7 Nov | Nashua Masters | Eastern Cape | 1,200,000 | Warren Abery (7) |
14 | ||
| 14 Nov | BMG Classic | Gauteng | 550,000 | Brandon Pieters (4) |
n/a | ||
| 18 Nov | Coca-Cola Charity Championship | Western Cape | 550,000 | Branden Grace (1) |
n/a | ||
| 5 Dec | Nedbank Golf Challenge | North West | US$5,000,000 |  Lee Westwood (n/a) |
34 | Limited-field event | |
| 12 Dec | Alfred Dunhill Championship | Mpumalanga | €1,000,000 |  Pablo Martín (n/a) |
20 | EUR | |
| 19 Dec | South African Open Championship | KwaZulu-Natal | €1,000,000 | Ernie Els (18) |
32 | EUR | Flagship event |
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[3]
| Position | Player | Events | Prize money (R) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charl Schwartzel | 6 | 5,097,914 |
| 2 | Thomas Aiken | 7 | 1,959,543 |
| 3 | Keith Horne | 12 | 1,904,950 |
| 4 | Jbe' Kruger | 16 | 1,768,632 |
| 5 | Louis Oosthuizen | 7 | 1,392,835 |
Ernie Els was ineligible for the Order of Merit having only played in two tournaments during the season. The R1,467,200 he earned from those events would have been enough for 5th place.
Notes
- The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Sunshine Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Sunshine Tour members.
- EUR − European Tour.
References
- "Schwartzel wins BMW for ace". Sport24. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
- "2010 Sunshine Tour schedule". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2010-01-07.
- "2010 Final Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. 19 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-20.