Wayne Westner

{{Infobox golfer

| name = Wayne Westner

| image = Wayne Westner00.jpg

| imagesize = 200px

| caption =

| fullname = Wayne Brett Westner

| nickname = Westy

| birth_date = {{birth date|1961|9|28|df=y}}

| birth_place = Johannesburg, South Africa

| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|1|4|1961|9|28|df=y}}

| death_place = Pennington, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

| height = {{height|m=1.80|precision=0}}

| weight = {{convert|82|kg|lb st|abbr=on}}

| nationality = {{ZAF}}

| spouse = Alison Jean Westner

| partner =

| children =

| college =

| yearpro = 1982

| retired =

| extour = European Tour
Sunshine Tour

| prowins = 13

| eurowins = 2

| sunwins = 7

| otherwins = 5

| majorwins =

| masters = DNP

| usopen = T50: 1996

| open = T34: 1993

| pga = DNP

| wghofid =

| wghofyear =

| award1 = Southern Africa Tour
Order of Merit winner

| year1 = 1995–96

| awardssection =

}}

Wayne Brett Westner (28 September 1961 {{ndash}} 4 January 2017) was a South African golfer. He was twice winner of the South African Open and also won twice on the European Tour. In partnership with Ernie Els, they won the 1996 World Cup of Golf, played at the Erinvale Golf Club near Cape Town. Els won the individual event with Westner second and the pair won the team event by 18 shots.

Early life

Westner was born in Johannesburg.

Professional career

In 1981, he turned professional. He won several events in his home country, including two South African Opens. He spent many years on the European Tour where he won two tournaments and had a best Order of Merit finish of twentieth in 1993. In the 1992 Carroll's Irish Open, he lost to Nick Faldo at the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff. In partnership with Ernie Els, they won the 1996 World Cup of Golf for South Africa. Westner finished second, behind Els, in the individual event and the pair won the team event by 18 shots. He won the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in 1995/96.

At the 1998 Madeira Island Open, during the pre-tournament Pro-Am, Westner tore ankle ligaments after falling over six feet when a railway sleeper crumbled under him.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/golf-old-club-aids-bottomley-1165793.html |title=Old club aids Bottomley |work=The Independent |date=18 June 1998 |accessdate=18 August 2009 |location=London |first=John |last=Oakley}} He played only once more that season, and was never able to recover. He later ran his own golf college, The Wayne Westner Golf College.{{cite news |last=Keogh |first=Brian |title=Wayne's world – Westner wants to bring golf to the masses with simple invention |url=http://www.irishgolfdesk.com/news-files/2015/12/16/waynes-world-westner-wants-to-bring-golf-to-the-masses-with-simple-invention |accessdate=5 January 2017 |work=Irish Golf Desk |date=16 December 2015}}

Personal life

As of 1991, Westner was a born-again Christian.{{Cite web |title=The Daily Telegraph 11 Feb 1991, page 38 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/751451077/ |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}

Westner died by suicide in Pennington, KwaZulu-Natal, on 4 January 2017.{{cite web |url=http://www.golf.com/knockdown/2017/12/11/wayne-westner-outdrove-nicklaus-and-outdueled-els-so-how-did-he-end-gun-his-head |title=Troubled Off The Tee |website=golf.com |date=4 January 2017}}