1992–93 Southern Africa Tour

1992–93 Southern Africa Tour season
Duration19 December 1992 (1992-12-19) – 28 February 1993 (1993-02-28)
Number of official events9
Most winsSouth Africa Ernie Els (2)
Order of MeritZimbabwe Mark McNulty

The 1992–93 Southern Africa Tour, titled as the 1992–93 FNB Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 22nd season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

FNB title sponsorship

It was the first season in which the tour had signed a title sponsorship agreement with First National Bank, being renamed as the FNB Tour.[1]

Season outline

A handful of top golfers dominated the first part of the season. Ernie Els won the first event of the season, the FNB Players Championship, by four shots over Mark McNulty.[2] David Frost won the next event, the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge with Els finishing joint third.[3] Els returned with a victory at the next official event, the Goodyear Classic, by two shots over Retief Goosen.[4] Fijian Vijay Singh won the first event after the Christmas break, the Bell's Cup, defeating McNulty by two shots.[5] McNulty, however, came back and won the following week at the Lexington PGA Championship by one shot over a number of players, including Nick Price.[6] At the fifth official tournament, the Mount Edgecombe Trophy, Goosen won his first event of the season, defeating runner-up Price by five shots.[7] Price returned with a victory the following week at the ICL International.[8]

In the later part of the season, a number of less notable players defeated the top performers. At the seventh event, the Philips South African Open, Clinton Whitelaw was victorious by two shots over Goosen.[9] The following week, at the Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic, Sean Pappas defeated Els in a playoff.[10] At the final event of the season, the EVS South African Masters, Zimbabwean Tony Johnstone defeated Roger Wessels by a shot with McNulty, Els, and Goosen all several shots back.[11]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1992–93 season.[12][13]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R) 		Winner[a] OWGR
points 		Notes
22 Nov FNB Players Championship Transvaal 500,000 South Africa Ernie Els (5) 26 New tournament
20 Dec Goodyear Classic Cape 350,000 South Africa Ernie Els (6) 14
10 Jan Bell's Cup Cape 450,000 Fiji Vijay Singh (n/a) 26
17 Jan Lexington PGA Championship Transvaal 500,000 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (22) 26
24 Jan Mount Edgecombe Trophy Natal 450,000 South Africa Retief Goosen (2) 20 New tournament
31 Jan ICL International Transvaal 450,000 Zimbabwe Nick Price (5) 18
14 Feb Philips South African Open Transvaal 500,000 South Africa Clinton Whitelaw (1) 18
21 Feb Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic Swaziland 350,000 South Africa Sean Pappas (1) 14
28 Feb EVS South African Masters Transvaal 550,000 Zimbabwe Tony Johnstone (13) 18

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the Southern Africa Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R) 		Winner OWGR
points 		Notes
6 Dec Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge Transvaal US$2,500,000 South Africa David Frost 52 Limited-field event

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[14]

Position Player Prize money (R)
1 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty 250,079
2 South Africa Ernie Els 222,496
3 South Africa Retief Goosen 204,289
4 Zimbabwe Nick Price 170,450
5 South Africa Roger Wessels 128,843

Notes

  1. ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Southern Africa Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Southern Africa Tour members.

References

  1. ^ Berkovitz, Anton; Samson, Andrew (1993). South Africa and international sports factfinder. D. Nelson. p. 96. ISBN 1868061019. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Parry homes in on third success". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. 23 November 1992. p. 36. Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "The Roanoke Times 07 Dec 1992, page 45". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  4. ^ Winter, Grant (21 December 1992). "Els eases in with a record return". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. p. 39. Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Winter, Grant (11 January 1993). "Fan gives Singh resting place". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. p. 32. Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Thomas battles against the pain | Golf". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. 18 January 1993. p. 39. Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Winter, Grant (25 January 1993). "Trophy sets up Goosen for circuit". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. p. 35. Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Price in top form". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. 1 February 1993. p. 37. Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Sport summary | Golf". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 16 February 1993. p. 44 (43 in paper). Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Stankowski: Places 10th at Swazi". Camarillo Star. Ventura, California. 23 February 1993. p. 14 (B2 in paper). Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Oldcorn finds strength to notch first Tour victory". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. 1 March 1993. p. 37. Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "1992/93 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  13. ^ Williams, Michael (1994). The Royal & Ancient Golfer's Handbook 1994. p. 99. ISBN 0333609441. Retrieved 23 December 2023 – via Archive.org.
  14. ^ "1992/93 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 7 October 2023.