2014 Sunshine Tour
The 2014 Sunshine Tour was the 15th season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was relaunched in 2000, and the 8th 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 | 6 February 2014 – 11 January 2015 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 26 |
| Most wins | 2: Louis de Jager Keith Horne Titch Moore Daniel van Tonder |
| Order of Merit | Thomas Aiken |
← 2013 2015 → | |
The tour is based predominantly in South Africa with other events being held in neighbouring countries, including Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Zambia and Namibia.
As usual, the tour consists 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 until 2012 were 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 November and December.
The OWGR board announced adjustments to the points distribution starting in September 2014 and some events would get higher values of 7–11 points depending on strength of field. The first event under the new system was the Wild Coast leg of the Vodacom Origins of Golf, which received seven OWGR points.
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2014 season.[1][2]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[lower-alpha 1] | OWGR points |
Other tours[lower-alpha 2] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Feb | Joburg Open | Gauteng | €1,300,000 | George Coetzee (5) |
20 | EUR | |
| 16 Feb | Africa Open | Eastern Cape | €1,000,000 | Thomas Aiken (8) |
20 | EUR | |
| 23 Feb | Dimension Data Pro-Am | Western Cape | 3,750,000 |  Estanislao Goya (n/a) |
14 | Pro-Am | |
| 2 Mar | Tshwane Open | Gauteng | €1,500,000 |  Ross Fisher (n/a) |
20 | EUR | |
| 23 Mar | Investec Cup | North West | 1,000,000 | Trevor Fisher Jnr (8) |
14 | ||
| 6 Apr | Telkom Business PGA Championship | Gauteng | 3,750,000 | Titch Moore (8) |
14 | ||
| 13 Apr | Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open | Zimbabwe | 1,800,000 | Jbe' Kruger (3) |
14 | ||
| 10 May | Investec Royal Swazi Open | Swaziland | 1,000,000 | Daniel van Tonder (1) |
14 | ||
| 18 May | Mopani Copper Mines Zambia Open | Zambia | US$250,000 | Wallie Coetsee (2) |
14 | ||
| 25 May | Lombard Insurance Classic | Swaziland | 900,000 | Christiaan Basson (3) |
6 | ||
| 8 Jun | Zambia Sugar Open | Zambia | 1,200,000 | Lyle Rowe (1) |
14 | New tournament | |
| 27 Jun | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Euphoria | Limpopo | 600,000 | Daniel van Tonder (2) |
6 | ||
| 4 Jul | Sun City Challenge | North West | 700,000 | Dean Burmester (2) |
6 | ||
| 25 Jul | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Arabella | Western Cape | 600,000 | Jean Hugo (15) |
4 | ||
| 1 Aug | Vodacom Origins of Golf at St Francis | Eastern Cape | 600,000 | Keith Horne (6) |
6 | ||
| 29 Aug | Wild Waves Golf Challenge | Kwazulu-Natal | 700,000 | Colin Nel (1) |
6 | ||
| 5 Sep | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Wild Coast Sun | Eastern Cape | 600,000 | Louis de Jager (2) |
7 | ||
| 3 Oct | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Vaal de Grace | Free State | 600,000 | PH McIntyre (1) |
4 | ||
| 10 Oct | Sun Boardwalk Golf Challenge | Eastern Cape | 600,000 | Titch Moore (9) |
4 | New tournament | |
| 19 Oct | BMG Classic | Gauteng | 800,000 | Merrick Bremner (4) |
7 | ||
| 31 Oct | Vodacom Origins of Golf Final | Western Cape | 650,000 | Keith Horne (7) |
4 | ||
| 6 Nov | Nedbank Affinity Cup | North West | 750,000 | Louis de Jager (3) |
4 | ||
| 30 Nov | Lion of Africa Cape Town Open | Western Cape | 1,500,000 | Jaco Ahlers (2) |
14 | ||
| 7 Dec | Nedbank Golf Challenge | North West | US$6,500,000 | Danny Willett (n/a) |
38 | EUR | Limited-field event |
| 14 Dec | Alfred Dunhill Championship | Mpumalanga | €1,500,000 | Branden Grace (4) |
22 | EUR | |
| 11 Jan | South African Open Championship | Gauteng | 14,500,000 | Andy Sullivan (n/a) |
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 | Prize money (R) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Aiken | 4,057,642 |
| 2 | Daniel van Tonder | 3,900,386 |
| 3 | George Coetzee | 3,339,251 |
| 4 | Charl Schwartzel | 2,081,444 |
| 5 | Trevor Fisher Jnr | 2,052,708 |
Branden Grace (3.8 million), Ross Fisher (3.7 million), Louis Oosthuizen (2.7 million), and Andy Sullivan (2.4 million) did not play the minimum number of tournaments required (seven) to be ranked.
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
- "OWGR Board Announces Adjustments To Ranking System". OWGR. 6 August 2014.
- "Structure of Ranking Points and Rating Values from September 1 2014" (PDF). OWGR. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
- "Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour.