As Ockie Strydom eased into 2022, he would have been forgiven for letting out a sigh of frustration when he came second at the Stella Artois Players Championship.

It was his 13th runner-up finish on the Sunshine Tour, and his third since his breakthrough win at Sishen in 2017. As the new season started, he promptly recorded his 14th second-place finish on the Tour, at the Lombard Insurance Classic. Then came his 15th, at St Francis Links in September.

But then came redemption to cap off a year which had six other top-10 finishes (including the 2021-22 Tour Championship in April) with his victory at the DP World Tour co-sanctioned Alfred Dunhill Championship in December after 19 second-place finishes in his career.

Strydom had played at 38 previous DP World Tour events, making the cut just 19 times. He had two top-10 finishes, including a tie-third showing at the South Africa Open in 2011, two years after turning pro.

Besides winning over R4.6-million at Leopard Creek, enough to almost double his career winnings on the Sunshine Tour, his horizon expanded to include two years of exemption in Europe.

“I think my plans changed a little bit,” laughed Strydom. “I was going to be playing a lot on the Sunshine Tour, but all of a sudden, it’s DP World Tour now.”

Then in February this year, he was as precise as he was devastating as he fired a superb bogey-free closing nine-under-par 63 to win the DP World Tour’s Singapore Classic by a single stroke.

He made his last bogey on the 10th hole of his third round, and, in the end, it was a delicate chip up the embankment behind the 18th green to inside a foot for his 12th birdie in 22 holes that won him his second DP World Tour title in six starts since December last year.

“It’s just the mindset that’s changing,” said Strydom after the win. “I’ve been in the situation before and I know I can do it again. I was thinking of giving that week a miss. I’d been hitting it so badly. My coach flew in and my wife said it might be my week, and look what happened!”

The week before, Strydom was ranked South Africa’s 18th best golfer. After his win in Singapore, he was inside the top 10 at seventh, and inside the top 150 in the world.

“It was frustrating yet humbling,” says Strydom of his long streak of runner-up finishes. “I recall it like it was yesterday how relatively simple it was to win at the IGT events I played. I had a great streak in 2017 where I won five of them.

“When I got started playing on the Sunshine Tour in 2009, I felt comfortable and at home and thought my first win wouldn’t be too far away. From 2009 to 2017 I had some great years where I felt almost like I was flying under the radar with a bunch of top-10s.

“It was the second-place finishes that got my emotions challenged in late 2017 and early 2018 when I thought it was just not possible for me to win. Life also happens, and between family, golf, new caddies, new management and sponsors I felt different emotions with those doubt gremlins playing tricks on my mind.

“But at the beginning of 2022 I realised that even though golf is an individual performance on the course, it’s what’s behind the player that really makes the difference. I started working extremely hard at my game, physically and mentally.

“I had to put structures in place that assist me with doing the right things the right way and leave no space for doubts. So, the bottom line is that even though the wait for the win was extremely difficult and frustrating, it’s been a learning curve that showed me there is more to professional golf than we think and that having the right approach brings results. My manager always says, ‘Performance is no coincidence.’”

As Ockie Strydom eased into 2022, he would have been forgiven for letting out a sigh of frustration when he came second at the Stella Artois Players Championship.

It was his 13th runner-up finish on the Sunshine Tour, and his third since his breakthrough win at Sishen in 2017. As the new season started, he promptly recorded his 14th second-place finish on the Tour, at the Lombard Insurance Classic. Then came his 15th, at St Francis Links in September.

But then came redemption to cap off a year which had six other top-10 finishes (including the 2021-22 Tour Championship in April) with his victory at the DP World Tour co-sanctioned Alfred Dunhill Championship in December after 19 second-place finishes in his career.

Strydom had played at 38 previous DP World Tour events, making the cut just 19 times. He had two top-10 finishes, including a tie-third showing at the South Africa Open in 2011, two years after turning pro.

Besides winning over R4.6-million at Leopard Creek, enough to almost double his career winnings on the Sunshine Tour, his horizon expanded to include two years of exemption in Europe.

“I think my plans changed a little bit,” laughed Strydom. “I was going to be playing a lot on the Sunshine Tour, but all of a sudden, it’s DP World Tour now.”

Then in February this year, he was as precise as he was devastating as he fired a superb bogey-free closing nine-under-par 63 to win the DP World Tour’s Singapore Classic by a single stroke.

He made his last bogey on the 10th hole of his third round, and, in the end, it was a delicate chip up the embankment behind the 18th green to inside a foot for his 12th birdie in 22 holes that won him his second DP World Tour title in six starts since December last year.

“It’s just the mindset that’s changing,” said Strydom after the win. “I’ve been in the situation before and I know I can do it again. I was thinking of giving that week a miss. I’d been hitting it so badly. My coach flew in and my wife said it might be my week, and look what happened!”

The week before, Strydom was ranked South Africa’s 18th best golfer. After his win in Singapore, he was inside the top 10 at seventh, and inside the top 150 in the world.

“It was frustrating yet humbling,” says Strydom of his long streak of runner-up finishes. “I recall it like it was yesterday how relatively simple it was to win at the IGT events I played. I had a great streak in 2017 where I won five of them.

“When I got started playing on the Sunshine Tour in 2009, I felt comfortable and at home and thought my first win wouldn’t be too far away. From 2009 to 2017 I had some great years where I felt almost like I was flying under the radar with a bunch of top-10s.

“It was the second-place finishes that got my emotions challenged in late 2017 and early 2018 when I thought it was just not possible for me to win. Life also happens, and between family, golf, new caddies, new management and sponsors I felt different emotions with those doubt gremlins playing tricks on my mind.

“But at the beginning of 2022 I realised that even though golf is an individual performance on the course, it’s what’s behind the player that really makes the difference. I started working extremely hard at my game, physically and mentally.

“I had to put structures in place that assist me with doing the right things the right way and leave no space for doubts. So, the bottom line is that even though the wait for the win was extremely difficult and frustrating, it’s been a learning curve that showed me there is more to professional golf than we think and that having the right approach brings results. My manager always says, ‘Performance is no coincidence.’”