- Former Masters champion pockets $4m individual prize
- American LIV players accused of sportswashing and ‘betrayal’
It has been 11 years since Charl Schwartzel achieved every golfer’s dream by winning the Masters. Quite whether the South African will regard this triumph in quite the same esteem remains to be seen but having pocketed $4m – the biggest individual prize ever handed out at a golf event, not to mention $750,000 for also winning the team competition – at least his bank manager will be happy.
On the day that a group representing victims’ families and survivors of the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States accused the high-profile American players of sportswashing and betraying their country, Schwartzel saw off a spirited challenge from his compatriot Hennie du Plessis that went down to the 54th and final hole to win by one stroke having done all the damage by shooting a combined nine under par on Thursday and Friday. “I was taking a lot of heat down the final stretch because there was a lot of money on the line,” he said.
