Inner Strength

Christiaan Bezuidenhout has experienced his fair share of adversity, but he’s now on the path to fulfilling his great potential

- Michael Weston

When a fresh, new face wins on tour, it’s easy to assume that a player’s fate was never in doubt – just another story of potential fulfilled. This isn’t always the case, though. For Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who won his maiden European Tour title at the Andalucia Masters in June, life has followed a different path – and it’s been anything but plain sailing.

In actual fact, the South African is lucky to be alive. Aged two, when playing in the street, he took a sip from a random bottle believing it was Coca-Cola. In that split second, his life changed forever. The bottle contained rat poison. It was a freak accident that impacts the 25-year-old to this very day. His whole nervous system was affected and one of the long-term effects led to him having a stutter. Later, he developed severe anxiety.

How impressive, then, that this very likable young man has not only learned to cope with his mental health issues and the anxiety that surrounds his stutter but that he’s also fulfilled his dream of becoming a professional golfer. It’s only half the story, too. In 2014, he received a two-year ban for testing positive for beta-blockers, which he was using to treat his anxiety – medication he had never made a secret of taking. Even though it was later reduced to nine months after a hearing determined he had not used drugs for performance-enhancing benefits, Bezuidenhout was left in pieces.