SA hosting LIV Golf is more significant than winning, says Oosthuizen

2026-03-18 - 07:10

Louis Oosthuizen, the captain of the South African player-based LIV Golf team, the Southern Guards, says getting a tournament on home soil is bigger than what he or his team might achieve this weekend. Steyn City in Fourways will host a first ever LIV Golf tournament in Africa this week. Thirteen teams of four members each, plus five wildcard players, will be gunning for the first prize of $4 million (R66 million) as well as a share of $3 million (R50 million) for the team that finishes first. Oosthuizen’s three Southern Guards team-mates are Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace and Dean Burmester. According to LIV Golf, 70,000 tickets have been sold for the event, which also includes a daily music concert at the venue following the day’s play. The first round gets underway on Thursday at 12.30pm with a shotgun start. ‘Have a great time’ “We’re excited to be here, to be able to play in front of a home crowd,” said Oosthuizen on Tuesday. “Being part of a team is more important this week than what we do individually. We’d love to play well as a team; that’s the bigger picture, getting the tournament here in South Africa. “I want the four of us (the Southern Guards team) to enjoy it, to take it all in and for everyone else, all the LIV guys, to have a great time.” Oosthuizen said the talk a while back had been about possibly getting a LIV tournament in South Africa in 2027 or 2028. “But a lot of people got involved, including the minister (of sport) and Steyn City and we’re now extremely proud of being able to put it on this year. It’s been an amazing job by so many people to get it done and now the fans will experience what LIV is all about.” LIV thrives on the competition between the teams and it seems the Southern Guards have a healthy rivalry with the Australian team, Ripper, who pipped them in a dramatic playoff for the team title in Adelaide two years ago. “We feel the fans will get behind us this week,” said Burmester, who won the individual Miami title in 2024. “We hope the fans have an amazing experience this week. It’s going to be insane.”