Darren Fichardt

Although hardly any casual fan of golf would recognize the name Darren Fichardt, it isn’t to say that he is no good at all. Although the golfer has not seen much action in The Open Championship or the US Open, mainly due to his ventures at the PGA European Tour, he is still one of the best golfers on that particular Tour. And although he is still become a household name, he has shown that he can be a success in the face of extreme adversity. And if his continued and consistent success in the European PGA Tour proves anything, it just goes to show that he can become a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.

Early career:

Born the South African city of Pretoria in 1975, Fichardt began to play in major South African tournaments in the early 1990s. From 1992, he began to make his mark in the South African circuit, winning junior titles as well as amateur titles.

Early professional career:

Although Fichardt began playing on an amateur level since the beginning of the 1990s, it wouldn’t be before a few more years before he took the game professionally. His win at the 1997 Bearing Man Highveld Classic was perhaps the most important and significant win of his career. In 1999, he won the prestigious Sun City Pro-Am event. His run of success did not stop with the turn of the new millennium and Fichardt found himself achieving a lot of minor successes that would go on to cement his career as a professional golfer.

Later professional career:

As of this year, the focus of Fichardt is solely on performing in the European circuit at the PGA European Tour where he made his debut way back in 2001. Although he is one of the more consistent players, his consistency only manages to make him a mid table player on the Tour and although he has taken part in the major events of the European Tour, he has never been overly impressive. However, he hasn’t been poor either and this goes to show that he has been fighting it out in the mid-table rakings for most of his career.

Statistics:

The highest European PGA Tour ranking that Fichardt has managed to achieve in his career is 39^th. But he has also seen a massive slide when he dropped to 190^th back in 2009. Although he has been the top ranked golfer in the African circuits, he has never managed to recreate that sort of form onto the PGA European Tour circuit and as a result, his ranking has suffered.

Personal life:

Fichardt married his long term girlfriend Natasha in 2000 and have two children together. Natasha is a renowned sports psychologist and she regularly counsels her husband before an event. She has also been seen caddying for Darren and the two are said to love doing everything together. The two also love going away on short trips whenever they get the chance for a holiday.