Monday, 5th March 2007 at 12:51 pm

Anton Haig hits the big time

He’s barely old enough to drink the sponsor’s product (and in certain parts of the world, he still wouldn’t be able to), but Johnnie Walker have a fan for life in 20-year-old Anton Haig, who picked up close to half a million dollars for his maiden European Tour win on Sunday at the Blue Canyon Country Club in Thailand.

It took a play-off with fellow South African Richard Sterne, and England’s Oliver Wilson, but a birdie at the first extra hole was all Haig needed, and after a week that saw him average 327 yards off the tee, the big-hitting kid has taken a giant step forward in professional golf. He’s also brash, colourful and full of confidence - just the kind of player South African golf needs.

Four other South Africans in the top five (Sterne, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els and David Frost) completed a splendid tournament for South Africa; it’s Haig, though, who’s suddenly very much in the golfing spotlight - and probably still celebrating this morning. Make that a double, with ice…