# Jaco van Zyl

Jaco Phillipus van Zyl (born 23 February 1979) is a professional golfer from South Africa.

## Career

Van Zyl was born in Pretoria. He won the South African Amateur in 2000 and turned professional the following year, immediately joining the Sunshine Tour. He won for the first time on the tour at the Platinum Classic in 2005.
In 2007, van Zyl played on the PGA Tour, having gained his card at the 2006 qualifying school. He made the 36-hole cut only four times in 21 tournaments during his rookie season and finished 227th on the money list.
In 2009, van Zyl recorded the biggest win of his career at the Telkom PGA Championship and went on to win twice more during the season and finish in 4th place on the Order of Merit. Having won four more tournaments on the Sunshine Tour in 2010, Van Zyl ended the year by finishing in 5th place at the final stage of the European Tour's qualifying school to earn his place on European Tour for the 2011 season. He had a good first season with five top-10 placings and finished 50th on the Race to Dubai. This included a playoff loss at the Trophée Hassan II in April. David Horsey beat van Zyl and Rhys Davies when he birdied the second extra hole of the playoff.
In November 2015, van Zyl finished runner-up at the Turkish Airlines Open. He placed one shot behind Victor Dubuisson, after being tied for the lead after 54 holes.
In February 2016, van Zyl reached the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time.
In January 2017, van Zyl was defeated in a sudden-death playoff on the European Tour for the second time. He lost to Wang Jeung-hun at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, who birdied the first extra hole to defeat van Zyl and Joakim Lagergren.
In September 2022, van Zyl won his first tournament in over six years at the Gary & Vivienne Player Challenge. He finished two shots ahead of Hennie Otto.

## Amateur wins

* 2000 South African Amateur

## Professional wins (16)
### Sunshine Tour wins (15)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
| 1 | 29 Oct 2005 | Platinum Classic | −18 (67-65-66=198) | Playoff | Grant Muller |
| 2 | 24 Oct 2008 | Vodacom Origins of Golf Final | −2 (70-68-76=214) | 1 stroke | Bradford Vaughan |
| 3 | 22 Feb 2009 | Telkom PGA Championship | −18 (70-68-66-66=270) | 1 stroke | Graham DeLaet, Trevor Fisher Jnr |
| 4 | 9 May 2009 | Samsung Royal Swazi Sun Open | 65 pts (14-18-15-18=65) | 12 points | Tongoona Charamba, Tyrone van Aswegen |
| 5 | 21 Aug 2009 | Telkom PGA Pro-Am | −12 (68-70-66=204) | 5 strokes | Tongoona Charamba |
| 6 | 1 May 2010 | Vodacom Origins of Golf (2) at Sishen | −16 (65-68-67=200) | 1 stroke | Jean Hugo, Jbe' Kruger |
| 7 | 15 May 2010 | Nashua Golf Challenge | −8 (68-71-69=208) | 5 strokes | Jean Hugo, PH McIntyre |
| 8 | 3 Sep 2010 | Telkom PGA Pro-Am (2) | −15 (66-66-69=201) | 1 stroke | Garth Mulroy |
| 9 | 25 Sep 2010 | SAA Pro-Am Invitational (2nd) | −22 (66-64-64=194) | 8 strokes | Alex Haindl |
| 10 | 9 Sep 2011 | Telkom PGA Pro-Am (3) | −19 (67-66-64=197) | 6 strokes | Jean Hugo |
| 11 | 24 Feb 2013 | Dimension Data Pro-Am | −17 (68-64-70-70=272) | 1 stroke | Daniel Brooks |
| 12 | 17 Mar 2013 | Telkom PGA Championship (2) | −20 (67-65-67-69=268) | 1 stroke | Dylan Frittelli |
| 13 | 24 Mar 2013 | Investec Cup | −21 (66-64-69-68=267) | Playoff | Hennie Otto |
| 14 | 28 Feb 2016 | Eye of Africa PGA Championship (3) | −20 (68-67-66-67=268) | Playoff | Dean Burmester |
| 15 | 10 Sep 2022 | Gary & Vivienne Player Challenge | −14 (68-65-69=202) | 2 strokes | Hennie Otto |
Sunshine Tour playoff record (3–3)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
| 1 | 2005 | Platinum Classic | Grant Muller | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 2 | 2010 | SAA Pro-Am Invitational (3rd) | Michiel Bothma | Lost to par on second extra hole |
| 3 | 2012 | Lion of Africa Cape Town Open | Jake Roos, Tyrone van Aswegen, Mark Williams | Roos won with birdie on second extra hole van Zyl eliminated by par on first hole |
| 4 | 2013 | Investec Cup | Hennie Otto | Won with par on first extra hole |
| 5 | 2015 | Investec Cup | Jaco Ahlers | Lost to par on third extra hole |
| 6 | 2016 | Eye of Africa PGA Championship | Dean Burmester | Won with par on first extra hole |

### Other wins (1)

* 2003 Event 6 – State mines G.C. (Diners Club Tour)

## Playoff record

European Tour playoff record (0–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
| 1 | 2011 | Trophée Hassan II | Rhys Davies, David Horsey | Horsey won with birdie on second extra hole |
| 2 | 2017 | Commercial Bank Qatar Masters | Joakim Lagergren, Wang Jeung-hun | Wang won with birdie on first extra hole |

## Results in major championships

| Tournament | 2013 | 2015 | 2016 |
| Masters Tournament | | | |
| U.S. Open | CUT | | CUT |
| The Open Championship | | CUT | |
| PGA Championship | CUT | | |
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied

## Results in World Golf Championships

Results not in chronological order before 2015.
| Tournament | 2010 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2016 |
| Championship | | | | | |
| Match Play | | | | | T28 |
| Invitational | | | 72 | | |
| Champions | T13 | T56 | T21 | T73 | |
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = tied

## Team appearances

Amateur
* Eisenhower Trophy (representing South Africa): 2000
Professional
* World Cup (representing South Africa): 2016