Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Bezuidenhout had a rough start in life. At age two-and-a-half, he was playing on the street with friends. He picked up a soda bottle and took a drink, but it contained rat poison. It was a moment that would change his life forever. He was lucky that an adult saw what was happening and took him to the hospital. They pumped his stomach to get rid of the poison, which had already affected his nervous system. They got most of it out in time, but he suffered the long-term effect of developing a case of stuttering. That stutter eventually caused a severe case of anxiety.
His father played golf and got Christiaan fooling around with a 5-iron and a putter when he was 4. The family lived next to the Delmas golf course, and in the afternoons, he would go the par-5 seventh hole and try to get up and down from the 100-meter mark. His father started taking him to the golf course when Christiaan played all the time. In his early development, he had three coaches: his father and two brothers. Their critique and support molded him into the golfer he would become. His coach now is former South Africa tour pro Dougie Wood.
Bezuidenhout played many sports at school, including cricket, rugby, and tennis, but golf was always his first sports love. He decided to give up on all the other activities after his first term in 8th grade because he knew he wanted to make a career playing golf.
Still, he had a significant problem with his stutter and went to a psychologist when he was 14 to develop enough confidence to talk in public situations. The psychologist gave him beta-blockers, a medication that reduces blood pressure and helps treat anxiety. Christiaan used the medication for seven years during his amateur days, which helped him become more confident and enjoy his life again.
But little did he know that the medication would hurt his golf career. While playing in the 2014 British Amateur at Royal Portrush, he was picked for a random drug test. He told the tester that he was using beta-blockers. Two months later, while practicing for the Eisenhower Trophy on the South African team, he was told that he was suspended for two years for taking a banned drug. In a hearing, the sentence was reduced to nine months because it was determined he was not using the drug for any performance-enhancing benefits.
Bezuidenhout stopped taking beta-blockers, turned professional in 2015, and won the Order of Merit on the Big Easy Tour, the developmental circuit for the Sunshine Tour.
2016 Notes: Played on South Africa's Sunshine Tour and the European and European Challenge tours. In his first start of the year, he finished 2nd at the BMW SA Open, finishing two strokes behind winner Brandon Stone. He had a T-4th at the Barclays Kenya Open on the European Challenge Tour and Sunshine Tour, was T-4th in the Wild Coast Sun, and then won the Sun Finish River Challenge. Three weeks later, he placed 2nd at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final, finishing two strokes behind winner Mark Williams. Bezuidenhout finished 6th on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit.
2017 Notes: Played once again on the Sunshine and European Challenge tours. In South Africa, he finished 2nd at the Sun Boardwalk Challenge, one stroke behind winner Tyrone Ryan. In his 11 Challenge Tour events, his best finish was T-11th at the KPMG Trophy. At the end of the year, he earned a European Tour card after finishing inside the top-25 at Qualifying School Final Stage.
2018 Notes: Played in 26 events on the European Tour, making 20 cuts. His best finish was T-17th at the Tshwane Open. He earned euro314,967 and placed 105th in the Race to Dubai, good enough to hold his card for another year.
2019 Notes: This was a breakout year for him. He played in 28 events, making 19 cuts, and had six top-10 results. After a slow start in his first eight events, he finished T-2nd at the Qatar Masters, two strokes behind winner Justin Harding. The next week, he placed T-9th at the Kenya Open. After a T-36th at the Maybank Championship, he finished T-4th at the Hero Indian Open, three shots behind winner Stephen Gallacher. He was T-3rd at the BMW International, two strokes from the Pavan/Fitzpatrick playoff. The following week at the Andalucia Masters, Bezuidenhout opened with rounds of 66-68-69 and went into the final round with a five-shot lead. The night before the final round, he got a phone call from Ernie Els. Bezuidenhout had graduated from Els' foundation back home, and the call boosted him. He started with two birdies in that round but then made bogeys on four of his next five holes. He bounced back to play his final 10 holes in 2-under par to win his first European Tour title by seven strokes. With the win, he earned a berth in the British Open, making an emotional trip back to Royal Portrush, where he ran into a drug-testing problem. Unfortunately, he missed the cut with rounds of 74-71. Two months later, he shot four rounds in the 60s at the BMW PGA Championship, and his 16-under performance secured a 3rd-place finish, four strokes behind winner Danny Willett. After finishing the previous year 521st in the Official World Golf Ranking, he broke into the top 100 with his 3rd-place finish at Wentworth, 92nd in the rankings. Bezuidenhout played in all three playoff events, finished T-12th at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, and ended the year 18th in the Race to Dubai with winnings of euro1,557,487.
2020 Notes: Played in 17 European Tour events making 13 cuts with three top-ten finishes and two victories. He was 7th in the Race to Dubai standings. After another slow start in his first four events, he finished the Omega Dubai Desert Classic tied for the lead with Lucas Herbert, forcing a playoff. Herbert defeated Bezuidenhout with a birdie on the second playoff hole. The next week, he finished T-21st at The Saudi International and then claimed the Dimension Data Pro-Am, a dual European Challenge Tour and South African event. He dramatically defeated George Coetzee by making a six-foot eagle putt on the 72nd hole for a one-stroke win. With the victory, Bezuidenhout moved into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking (48th). After the break from the COVID-19 pandemic, he was able to play in nine PGA Tour events. He didn't earn enough points for the 2021 PGA Tour membership, with a best finish of T-20th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. He ended his season with back-to-back wins at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and South African Open on the European Tour and then a T-14th at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
2021 Notes: Played in 13 European Tour events making 13 cuts with one top-ten finish. He was 40th in the Race to Dubai standings. Their best finish was 5th at the BMW PGA Championship, two shots back of winner Billy Horschel. He played in 12 PGA Tour events making 12 cuts with one top-ten finish. His first European Tour start was T-12th at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. He was 7th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his first top-ten on the PGA Tour. He represented South Africa at the Tokyo Olympic Games, finishing T-16th. Played in three Korn Ferry Tour finals events, was T-10th at the Albertsons Boise Open, T-58th at the Nationwide Children's, then was third at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. Bezuidenhout shot 64 in the final round to finish five shots back of winner Joseph Bramlett. It also secured its first season of PGA Tour membership for the 2021-22 season by being 8th in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
2022 Notes: Played in 24 PGA Tour events making 20 cuts with one top-ten finish. He was 51st in the FedExCup points list. He played in six European Tour events making five cuts with one top-ten finish. He was T-6th at the SA Open Championship. On the PGA Tour, his best finish is T-2nd at the John Deere Classic; he was three shots back of winner J.T. Poston. He got one of the three qualifying spots to play in the 2022 Open Championship and finished T-68th. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-64th at the FedEx St. Jude and T-12th at the BMW Championship. In his season-ending event was T-5th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, four shots back of winner Tommy Fleetwood.
2023 Notes: Was T-3rd at the Joburg Open, four shots back of winner Dan Bradbury. He was T-11th at the American Express.