– Jayden Schaper has consecutively won the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open. Not only are they two consecutive tournaments of the DP World Tour, but he has also done it in consecutive weeks. It is a major achievement within the reach of very few. In fact, in the DP World Tour, with which he finished this Sunday, 2,079 tournaments have been played and winning two consecutive weeks has only happened 44 times, including this latest one by Schaper. A total of 35 players have done it.
– Surely more than one person thought that the prestigious club was even more exclusive. Yes, it may be surprising that there are 44 in 53 years of history, but the reality is that, although they may seem many, they are actually few and, above all, they are very good.
– One of the most curious aspects of this club is that Schaper has joined with the same references as Louis Oosthuizen last year. This is indeed rare and had never happened before in the history of the European circuit. That two players win the same tournaments in consecutive weeks two years in a row. Yes, Oosthuizen won the Alfred Dunhill and the Mauritius Open last year. Incredible.
– In fact, last year the DP World Tour ended the year with two consecutive doubles. First Dean Burmester won the Joburg Open and the South African Open and then Oosthuizen claimed his. This had only happened once before in the history of the DP World Tour, specifically in 1972. Now let’s go with that.
– The year in which a player has most frequently achieved consecutive week victories is, curiously, the very first one, in 1972, when the circuit was launched. Three different golfers won three consecutive weeks. Curiously, all three were from Oceania, which is almost science fiction. The first to hold this honour is Australian Graham Marsh. He won the Swiss Open from July 27 to 30 and a week later triumphed at the German Open. The next two were the Dutch Open and the Benson and Hedges Festival, and they were also won by the same player. And also Australian. It was Jack Newton. This wonderful and so far unrepeatable trilogy was closed by: Bob Charles, a New Zealander, who won the John Player Classic and the Dunlop Masters in two consecutive weeks at the end of September and the beginning of October in 1972.
– South Africa is good at stringing together victories two weeks in a row in the DP World Tour. Indeed, Schaper is the eighth South African to do so. The list is impressive: Louis Oosthuizen (2024), Dean Burmester (2024), Branden Grace (2012), Charl Schwartzel (2010), Richard Sterne (2008), Ernie Els (2005) and Dale Hayes (1978).
– Watch out because Spain is by no means lacking in these feats. Four different players have achieved it on five occasions. Of course, the only one who has repeated is Seve Ballesteros. He did it in 1986 and 1991. Also included in this club are Manuel Piñero (1985), José María Olazábal (1992) and Sergio García (2011). Eager to know who will be next on this list.
– On 44 occasions a golfer has won two consecutive weeks in the DP World Tour, however only two extraordinary players have achieved it over three consecutive weeks. It is the absolute record. The gentlemen are called Nick Faldo (1983) and Seve Ballesteros (1986). Absolute legends. Seve won consecutively between June and July the Carroll’s Irish Open, Johnnie Walker Monte Carlo Open and the Peugeot Open de France.
– There are several players who have managed to string together two wins more than once. Ian Woosnam, Lee Westwood, Seve and Faldo have done it on two different occasions. However, there are only two who have achieved it in three different years. Another madness. The names will not surprise you excessively. One is Bernhard Langer (1984, 1985 and 1997). The other is Tiger Woods (2000, 2006 and 2007). Tiger did it by repeating the pair each time: PGA Championship and WGC Bridgestone Invitational.
– With this second consecutive victory, in addition to his second place seven days earlier in the Nedbank Challenge, Schaper has skyrocketed in the world ranking. In three weeks he has gone from being beyond the 150th in the world to jumping to 63rd. And he will end the year in 62nd. That is, within a stone’s throw of this world top 50 to which he undoubtedly belongs.
– Schaper was already the Number One of the Race to Dubai before playing in Mauritius, so as you can understand now he is even more of a leader. So much so that if he did not play again all season either due to injury or because he did not feel like it, he would already be qualified for the Dubai Final. On the other hand, he is the champion of the Opening Swing, something he already was before playing in Mauritius.
– By the way, it is the third time in history that a sequence of this type, two consecutive week victories in the DP World Tour, concludes in Mauritius. We will have to give it the label of a magical place. The first was Korean Jeunghun Wang in 2016, after winning in Morocco, and the other two are the aforementioned Oosthuizen and Schaper.
Here is the complete list by year of players who have managed to win two consecutive weeks in the DP World Tour:
– 1972: Graham Marsh, Jack Newton and Bob Charles
– 1974: Maurice Bembridge and Peter Oosterhuis
– 1978: Dale Hayes
– 1983: Nick Faldo (3)
– 1984: Bernhard Langer
– 1985: Manuel Piñero and Bernhard Langer
– 1986: Seve Ballesteros (3)
– 1987: Mark McNulty and Gordon Brand Jr.
– 1989: Nick Faldo
– 1990: Ian Woosnam
– 1991: Seve Ballesteros
– 1992: José María Olazábal
– 1994: Colin Montgomerie
– 1995: Fred Couples
– 1996: Ian Woosnam
– 1997: Nick Price and Bernhard Langer
– 1998: Lee Westwood
– 1999: Lee Westwood
– 2000: Tiger Woods
– 2001: Vijay Singh
– 2005: Ernie Els
– 2006: Tiger Woods
– 2007: Tiger Woods
– 2008: Richard Sterne
– 2009: Martin Kaymer
– 2010: Charl Schwartzel
– 2011: Thomas Bjorn and Sergio García
– 2012: Branden Grace
– 2013: Brent Rumford and Phil Mickelson
– 2014: Rory McIlroy
– 2016: Jeunghun Wang
– 2017: Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose
– 2024: Dean Burmester and Louis Oosthuizen
– 2025: Jayden Schaper
*Scottie Scheffler (2022), Sam Torrance (83-84) and Charles Coody (1973) also won two consecutive DP World Tour tournaments, but they were not in consecutive weeks.
*Rasmus Hojgaard and Nicolai Hojgaard won two consecutive weeks in 2021: Omega European Masters and Italian Open. They are not the same player, but let’s see who can tell them apart.
