1992–93_Southern_Africa_Tour
1992–93 Southern Africa Tour
Golf tour season
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.
| Duration | 19 December 1992 (1992-12-19) – 28 February 1993 (1993-02-28) |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 9 |
| Most wins |  Ernie Els (2) |
| Order of Merit |  Mark McNulty |
← 1991–92 1993–94 → | |
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]
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]
The following table lists official events during the 1992–93 season.[12][13]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[lower-alpha 1] | OWGR points |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Nov | FNB Players Championship | Transvaal | 500,000 | Ernie Els (5) | 26 | New tournament |
| 20 Dec | Goodyear Classic | Cape | 350,000 | Ernie Els (6) | 14 | |
| 10 Jan | Bell's Cup | Cape | 450,000 |  Vijay Singh (n/a) | 26 | |
| 17 Jan | Lexington PGA Championship | Transvaal | 500,000 | Mark McNulty (22) | 26 | |
| 24 Jan | Mount Edgecombe Trophy | Natal | 450,000 | Retief Goosen (2) | 20 | New tournament |
| 31 Jan | ICL International | Transvaal | 450,000 | Nick Price (5) | 18 | |
| 14 Feb | Philips South African Open | Transvaal | 500,000 | Clinton Whitelaw (1) | 18 | |
| 21 Feb | Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic | Swaziland | 350,000 | Sean Pappas (1) | 14 | |
| 28 Feb | EVS South African Masters | Transvaal | 550,000 | 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 | David Frost |
52 | Limited-field event |
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 | Mark McNulty | 250,079 |
| 2 | Ernie Els | 222,496 |
| 3 | Retief Goosen | 204,289 |
| 4 | Nick Price | 170,450 |
| 5 | Roger Wessels | 128,843 |
- Berkovitz, Anton; Samson, Andrew (1993). South Africa and international sports factfinder. D. Nelson. p. 96. ISBN 1868061019. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- "Parry homes in on third success". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. 23 November 1992. p. 36. Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "The Roanoke Times 07 Dec 1992, page 45". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
- 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.
- 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.
- "Thomas battles against the pain | Golf". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. 18 January 1993. p. 39. Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- 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.
- "Price in top form". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. 1 February 1993. p. 37. Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "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.
- "Stankowski: Places 10th at Swazi". Camarillo Star. Ventura, California. 23 February 1993. p. 14 (B2 in paper). Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "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.
- "1992/93 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
- Williams, Michael (1994). The Royal & Ancient Golfer's Handbook 1994. p. 99. ISBN 0333609441. Retrieved 23 December 2023 – via Archive.org.
- "1992/93 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 7 October 2023.