Martin Vorster is one of four South Africans teeing it up on Thursday in the first round of the LIV Golf Promotions event which will take place at Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto, Florida from January 8-11.
For the ultra-observant amongst South African golf fans who would have caught a glimpse of Vorster in full Stinger GC regalia chatting with the all-South African team in an episode of the ‘Greens & Gold’, the SuperSport documentary series and marketing campaign, it comes as no surprise to see the former member of the Louis57 Academy in the field.
The Louis57 Foundation, established in 2009 by 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, has recently been rebranded as the Stinger GC Foundation, continuing its mission to support children with special needs, cancer, and education and nutrition challenges in South Africa, while also running the Stinger GC Junior Golf Academy.
Vorster, who is in the field on an invitation from the LIV Golf league, has obviously been in discussions with Oosthuizen and the whole Stinger organisation as he attempts to break out from what has been an underwhelming start to his professional career after a stellar time in the amateur ranks. He has four top-10s and four missed cuts in the current Sunshine Tour season, and he lies 46th on the Order of Merit after 16 events.
He turned professional in 2021 amid high expectations, and would have been disappointed with his 31st-place finish in the Order of Merit the following year. He was 83rd in 2023-24 season, and 12th in the 2024-25 season – all solid but unspectacular for someone who was dominant in the amateur era of the likes of Jayden Schaper, Christo Lamprecht and Casey Jarvis.
His tilt at a place in LIV Golf is clearly an attempt to break free of whatever is holding him back on the Sunshine Tour as he tries to kickstart what should be a good professional career. He will not get into the Stinger team immediately, given Oosthuizen, Burmester, Schwartzel and Grace all will be in action in the 2026 season, but if he gets through the byzantine Promotions tournament, he may well be able to play with the freedom of guaranteed pay checks for a year.
The event will consist of four rounds of 18-hole stroke play, offering three coveted spots in the 2026 LIV Golf League season.
- Round 1 (Thursday) – 18-hole stroke play, top 20 and ties advance to round 2
- Round 2 (Friday) – Scores reset from round 1, 18-hole stroke play, top 20 and ties advance to rounds 3 and 4
- Round 3 (Saturday) – Scores reset from round 2, 18-hole stroke play
- Round 4 (Sunday) – Scores carry over from round 3, 18-hole stroke play (play-off only as needed to determine winner and/or second place)
The other South Africans in the round one field, by virtue of victories in 2025 on the Sunshine Tour, are Oliver Bekker, Louis Albertse and Samuel Simpson. Also in the round one field is Mexico’s Luis Carrera, who became the first player to win the Sunshine Tour’s Qualifying School and then the first two tournaments of the season.
Herman Loubser is directly into the second round thanks to his position on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit as at December 15 last year, and so is Kieran Vincent of Zimbabwe as one of 10 of the top 20 players in the Asian Tour’s 2025 International Series. Vincent will be trying to gain a place in LIV Golf once more, and, should he do so, will join his brother, Scott Vincent, who played his way back onto the lucrative circuit through the International Series.
