Player Profiles: Jaco van Zyl

Jaco van Zyl

Jaco van Zyl began playing golf as an 11 year old. He won the South African Amateur Championship in 2000, gained his Springbok colours as a junior, under-23 and a senior, won the Natal Open three times, as well as the Transvaal Open and the Natal Amateur.

At the age of 21, he joined the Sunshine Tour but didn’t break through for his maiden victory until the Platinum Classic in 2005. Over the last three years, Van Zyl has been one of the most consistent performers on the Sunshine Tour, adding eight more titles to his tally including the 2009 Telkom PGA Championship, Samsung Royal Swazi Sun Open and Telkom PGA Pro-Am, and the 2010 Vodacom Origins Sishen, Nashua Golf Challenge, Telkom PGA Pro-Am and SAA Pro-Am Invitational.

This year he managed to win the Telkom PGA Pro-Am for a third successive time, the first time this has been accomplished since Bradford Vaughan won the Limpopo Classic from 2004-2006.

For a while Van Zyl tried the United States with some success on the Nationwide Tour. At the 2006 PGA Tour Qualifying School Final, he shot a 64 to secure the final card on offer. He had mixed results, but returned home at the end of that season when his wife Jessica fell pregnant with the couple’s first child.

Van Zyl has spent the majority of his career on the Sunshine Tour because he is a self-confessed homebody. Having won four times in 2010 and posted another seven top five finishes, Van Zyl wrapped up the 2010 season with a sixth place ranking on the final Order of Merit. He ended the season by claiming the fifth card on offer at the European Tour Qualifying School and, at the prompting of his wife, has made a few trips to Europe, where he has enjoyed moderate success.

Van Zyl ranks 50th on the Race to Dubai after 20 starts and among his seven top 20 finishes a runner-up finish at the Trophee Hassan, third place finish at the Omega European Masters, tied fourth at the Africa Open and a tie for ninth at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship are his highlights. Back home he ranks 11th on the current Sunshine Tour Order of Merit.

Van Zyl has a real passion for flying and started hang gliding five years ago. He hopes to earn his pilot’s license one day. He lists Pezula as one of his favourite golf courses and the South African Open Championship as his favourite tournament. A unique item in Van Zyl’s bag is his ball marker which features many small Swarovski crystals with a “C” on it which stands for Cameron, his son’s name.