South Africa’s George Coetzee has begun his return to the European Tour and he does so fitter, stronger and with a few changes to his golf swing as he works towards what he hopes will be a strong finish to the year.
After an eight-week layoff, Coetzee teed it up in the Omega European Masters in Switzerland last week as part of a stretch that will see him play the majority of the remaining European Tour events this year, including a return to the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open on November 30 – December 3.
The three-time European Tour winner will be attempting to clinch a second title at The Heritage Golf Club at Heritage Resorts following his triumph in the inaugural event in 2015.
“I needed to have a good rest. I had eight weeks off to practice and train and I’m quite excited about the rest of the season,” said Coetzee.
“I’ve lost 15 kilogrammes. I’m enjoying practising for the long term. In this sense the work I’ve done now has been probably some of the best work I’ve done in the last seven years. For me it’s about accepting that things change and you’ve got to adapt all the time and keep working hard. You’re always working to be better and make sure your structures are in place.
“I’m going to play pretty much everything from Switzerland all the way through to Tshwane Open. I still have to qualify for a few events and hopefully the work I’ve been doing will kick in and I’ll have a couple of good finishes that will make up for the spots that I need to qualify for.”
Coetzee joins fellow South Africans, 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen and European Tour winners Brandon Stone and Dylan Frittelli in the field for the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, which is tri-sanctioned by the European Tour, the Asian Tour and the Sunshine Tour.
This year the field has been expanded to include 156 professionals competing for the €1 million in prize fund.
