Golf: From paddock to green jacket

He played his first nine holes of golf at just 4 years of age. But from the earliest times, South African Charl Schwartzel always had this curious belief, this strange sensation in the back of his mind.

He always thought if he ever played golf professionally, one day he could win the mighty Masters.

Back then, growing up on his Dad's chicken farm, the lad wasn't too bothered dreaming about green jackets and Augusta Champions dinners for the rest of his life.

"My grandfather started the farm so it comes through families," he told the world's media, as he explained the background to his stunning, sensational victory in the historic 75th Masters at Augusta yesterday.

"The chicken farm actually sells eggs and we also have corn. I used to help. I love being on a farm. Used to drive the tractors and do all of those things when I was a youngster. That was just something that I liked.

"But Dad was a big golfer and we used to play - he used to play golf Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays, just about every single week. And I used to caddie for him on the Wednesday and Saturday competitions and played with him on the Fridays. That's how it started."

Fast forward to Augusta National's exclusive acres yesterday and a 26-year-old South African lad from Johannesburg, in a green jacket obviously too big for his lean frame, is calmly discussing the sporting triumph of his life.

For when you win the US Masters for the first time, you never forget the moment for as long as you live. Ask any of the greats, like Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus, and they will tell you.

Yet in a curious way, perhaps it wasn't so huge a shock to Schwartzel.

"It's obviously the highlight of my golfing career by a long way. But you know, I always thought that if there was one that I would win, it would be this one.

"This is the sort of golf course that suits my eye. These are the sort of courses that I grew up on, playing with the tree lines, and I just feel really comfortable around it."

OK, sure. But did Schwartzel really believe he'd slip on a Masters green jacket before a South African icon such as Ernie Els? "Well, no," he said, almost choking in disbelief at the feat he has actually achieved.

"Ernie has had some fantastic Masters performances, but some have been stolen out of his hands, you could say. Sometimes that's the way it goes. He won US Opens and a British Open.

"It's not like he can't win any Majors. He's more than capable of winning them. Sometimes things just don't go your way. But I certainly didn't think I was going to put on a green jacket before him."

Maybe not. But there was something else in the humid, muggy Augusta night into which Charl Schwartzel disappeared that was made almost tangible by his triumph.

Whisper it in closed circles, but this win, coming as it did just nine months after South African Louis Oosthuizen had won the British Open, may have signalled the dawn of a new era in South African golf.

Sadly, it may also have confirmed the passing of the older generation, the likes of Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, who both struggled here last week. Oosthuizen, at 28, and Schwartzel, at 26, epitomise the future and given the last nine months, it looks like a rip-roaring future to behold.

Schwartzel killed every competitor in the field with a stunning finish that went birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie. That sort of finish was beyond even the likes of Jack Nicklaus, a phenomenal achievement that simply slammed the door shut on the other chasing contenders, the Australian trio of Adam Scott, Jason Day and Geoff Ogilvy, not to mention Tiger Woods and England's Luke Donald.

Schwartzel's finish brooked no argument. It was simply a case of a player finding another gear at the critical moment and surging clear of all others.

But at the end of the day, the kid is still only 26 and in the immediate aftermath of his triumph, he looked a touch bewildered by all the fuss and adulation. That is part of the appeal of Charl Schwartzel.

He is a thoroughly decent, pleasant, immaculately behaved young man who accepted his greatest achievement with modesty and handled himself superbly through all the media inquisitions and ceremonies.

Back home on the chicken farm, the boy who loved riding the tractor was doubtless remembered with affection. And today, South Africa should feel proud of him.