Wayne Westner

Wayne Brett Westner (28 September 1961 – 4 January 2017) was a South African golfer. He was twice winner of the South African Open and also won twice on the European Tour.

In partnership with Ernie Els, they won the 1996 World Cup of Golf, played at the Erinvale Golf Club near Cape Town. Els won the the individual event with Westner second and the pair won the team event by 18 shots.

Biography

Westner was born in Johannesburg. He turned professional in 1981 and won several events in his home country, including two South African Opens. He spent many years on the European Tour where he won two tournaments and had a best Order of Merit finish of twentieth in 1993. In the 1992 Carroll's Irish Open, he lost to Nick Faldo at the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff. In partnership with Ernie Els, they won the 1996 World Cup of Golf for South Africa. Westner finished second, behind Els, in the individual event and the pair won the team event by 18 shots. He won the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in 1995/96.

At the 1998 Madeira Island Open, during the pre-tournament Pro-Am, Westner tore ankle ligaments after falling over six feet when a railway sleeper crumbled under him. He played only once more that season, and had never been able to recover since. He later ran his own golf college, The Wayne Westner Golf College.

Westner committed suicide in KwaZulu-Natal on 4 January 2017. He is alleged to have held his wife hostage before shooting himself in the head.