In 1965 the “playing professionals” got together to try to revive the SA PGA Championship. Eventually Gary Player and Harold Henning put up most of the prize money, and it was Harold who won, beating Gary by three shots.

Harold then went on to win the event again in 1966 and 1967 to make it three in a row.

By coincidence, in 1975, I won over a field that included Lee Trevino, Tony Jacklin and, of course, Gary, who supported the Sunshine Tour every year by playing at least four tournaments.

In the third round of the tournament, I shot 62 which included a penalty shot when my ball moved on the 4th fairway. Graham Henning, who was marking my card, said he didn’t see the ball move, but it definitely did, so my 61 became a 62. Allan Henning finished second, six strokes behind.

It was also the first year we had television at a golf tournament in South Africa. The 1975 PGA Championship won the award for the best sporting event on TV that year.

Brian Henning was running the Tour in those days. He was the man who came up with the name Sunshine Tour and he also introduced our Tour to the world.

So now I’ve mentioned all four Henning brothers, an amazing golf family.

The 1985 PGA Championship was a different story, with Chris Willams holding off Mark McNulty, Denis Watson and the American, Jay Townsend, who is now a fellow golf commentator, by a single shot. Chris Willams won the PGA Championship again in 2002, 17 years later.

Then big changes came in 1995. The PGA Championship became the first event to be co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour. This was the start of the DP World Tour as we know it today. They couldn’t have wished for a better result either. With the worldwide television that came with the event being co-sanctioned, the winner was Ernie Els. Roger Wessels was the runner-up and Mark McNulty, Tony Johnstone, Van Phillips and Warren Schutte were all tied for third place.

This seemed like an all-round win – on TV you had world-class golf in faraway Africa, beautiful weather and great golf courses. It also gave the DP World Tour members the opportunity to play in South Africa during the European winter, plus the local spectators had top-class golf to watch on their doorstep. However, many SA players were not happy because only half the field were now local players.

Looking back on the changes, they have been wonderful for our Tour and our players who now have the opportunity to play on the DP World Tour.

When Ernie won the 1995 PGA Championship, he was already South Africa’s Golden Boy of Golf after winning the Byron Nelson Golf Classic in Texas on the PGA Tour earlier that year and the US Open the previous year.

With half a dozen players chasing him at Wanderers Golf Club, he waltzed around and recorded a score of 64 in the final round. He made golf look so easy with that languid swing and flawless short game, and he never seemed to let anything bother him while he was competing at the event. That calmness has allowed Ernie to still be winning golf tournaments over 30 years later.

Ernie is one of South Africa’s finest sportsmen and is loved by golfing fans wherever the sport is played. There have been few golfers who have had the same combination of a fluid, rhythmic golf swing plus a magical short game. He has all the ingredients that make a truly great golfer – desire to win, determination, imagination and a never-ending love for the game of golf.

After Ernie won in 1999, the SA PGA Championship no longer had its co-sanctioned event status and reverted to a Sunshine Tour event. Warren Abery was the champion in 2005, with Charl Schwartzel and Jaco van Zyl in second place. Jaco went on to win the tournament three times (2009, 2013 and 2016).

For the past few years, St Francis Links has hosted the PGA Championship successfully, This tournament will always be one of South Africa’s premier events and, as such, needs to be played on courses like St Francis Links.

IMAGES: SHAUN ROY/CARL FOURIE/SUNSHINE TOUR/SUPPLIED/DALE HAYES