Wayne Westner
Personal information
Full nameWayne Brett Westner
NicknameWesty
Born(1961-09-28)28 September 1961
Johannesburg, South Africa
Died4 January 2017(2017-01-04) (aged 55)
Pennington, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight82 kg (181 lb; 12.9 st)
Sporting nationality South Africa
SpouseAlison Jean Westner
Career
Turned professional1982
Former tour(s)European Tour
Sunshine Tour
Professional wins13
Highest ranking43 (18 July 1993)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour2
Sunshine Tour7
Other5
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenT50: 1996
The Open ChampionshipT34: 1993
Achievements and awards
Southern Africa 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.

Early life

Westner was born in Johannesburg.

Professional career

In 1981, he turned professional. He 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.[2] 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.[3]

Personal life

As of 1991, Westner was a born-again Christian.[4]

Westner committed suicide in Pennington, KwaZulu-Natal, on 4 January 2017.[5]

Professional wins (13)

European Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin 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

1Co-sanctioned by the Southern Africa Tour

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1992 Carroll's Irish Open England Nick Faldo Lost after concession on fourth extra hole

Southern Africa Tour wins (7)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 5 Feb 1983 ICL Tournament Players Classic −15 (71-66-68-68=273) 1 stroke South Africa Allan Henning
2 31 Jan 1988 Southern Suns South African Open −13 (69-70-65-71=275) 2 strokes England Ian Mosey
3 2 Feb 1991 Protea Assurance South African Open (2) −16 (65-70-69-68=272) 4 strokes England Mark James, Zimbabwe Tony Johnstone
4 9 Feb 1991 AECI Charity Classic −15 (69-69-70-65=273) 3 strokes United States Tommy Tolles
5 28 Jan 1996 San Lameer South African Masters −8 (69-68-70-73=280) 3 strokes United States Patrick Moore, South Africa Warren Schutte,
South Africa Chris Williams
6 4 Feb 1996 Nashua Wild Coast Sun Classic −12 (66-68-69-65=268) 4 strokes United States Michael Christie, United States Greg Petersen
7 25 Feb 1996 FNB Players Championship1 −18 (66-67-67-70=270) 1 stroke Argentina José Cóceres

1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

Southern Africa Tour playoff record (0–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1987 AECI Charity Classic Zimbabwe Mark McNulty Lost to birdie on first extra hole
2 1996 Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic South Africa Richard Kaplan

Other South African wins (4)

Other wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runners-up
1 24 Nov 1996 World Cup of Golf
(with South Africa Ernie Els) 		−29 (136-144-130-137=547) 18 strokes  United States − Steve Jones and Tom Lehman

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. ^ "Week 29 1993 Ending 18 Jul 1993" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  2. ^ Oakley, John (18 June 1998). "Old club aids Bottomley". The Independent. London. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "The Daily Telegraph 11 Feb 1991, page 38". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Troubled Off The Tee". golf.com. 4 January 2017.

External links

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