If you closed your eyes you could almost hear The Big Easy speaking. That was the nickname of the legendary golfer Ernie Els from the golfing nation of South Africa, the tall man with the elegant swing, who was a regular in Munich for years and who won the BMW International Open in 2013. Els was known for his massive build, wonderful swing and authentic English with a deep South African undertone – which could be heard in almost exactly the same tone on Sunday when Thriston Lawrence took his place on the podium.
He had just won his fourth tournament on the European DP World Tour, shed a few tears, received the silver trophy – and finally got emotional again when he was asked about Els, whom he succeeded in Munich as the second tournament winner South Africa.
“Ernie was my hero growing up,” said Lawrence, who has the same stature as his role model, although he doesn’t swing quite as easily. At that time he ran after him at every tournament in his hometown of Mbombela, Els’ foundation later supported him as a teenager: “But he probably doesn’t even know that.”
There are also some things you don’t know about Lawrence. The 26-year-old won the award for “Rookie of the Year” in his debut season in Europe last year – but he tends to get lost among the many South Africans at the top of the world golf sport, most recently because he himself is out of the game took. At a tournament in Abu Dhabi in February, he suffered a nasty thumb injury: “Actually, I should have taken a three-month break, but I immediately went on to the USA to play there.” In a few months, the self-confident rookie became an insecure golfer who was also homesick: “It’s a lonely life on the golf tour,” said Lawrence, especially while traveling through the USA. That’s one of the reasons why he felt a little overwhelmed after his victory.
The loneliness is always noticeable in individual sports, almost every professional can report it, especially in defeat. They experienced the pursuers on Sunday in Eichenried: The Dutchman Joost Luiten led over 16 of 18 holes in the final round, then he missed the victory – it would have been the first after a dry spell of five and a half years. And the German Maximilian Kieffer also missed narrowly: his race to catch up ended at hole 16 with a ball in the water. After the punch, Kieffer quickly put on his sunglasses to hide behind.
Many Germans had hoped for more in Munich
“It feels terrible,” he said afterwards, consolation was neither congratulations on his 33rd birthday nor the fact that he was the best German in the field: Kieffer had left the other 21 behind – from the largest group of local participants however, others had hoped for more. Marcel Schneider, Max Schmitt and Matti Schmid still ended up in the top 20, while Marcel Siem crashed completely at the weekend and was only a disappointing 73rd on Sunday after one round in 82 strokes (10 over par).
After all, the assembled German team, which has otherwise had a strong season so far, saw the tournament winner as a suitable example of how quickly things can go up again. In the USA he hadn’t played a single good tournament in six weeks, also because of the consequences of his injury, Lawrence said. In the final round in Munich he found his old ease again, the conviction that he belongs on the golf course and also in the line of ancestors next to his role model Els: “It often doesn’t look to the spectators as if we were on the course Have fun,” Lawrence said. “But deep down in my heart, this is the best thing I have in my life.”
