1986–87 Southern Africa Tour

The 1986–87 Southern Africa Tour was the 16th season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

1986–87 Southern Africa Tour season

Duration	20 November 1986 (1986-11-20) – 28 February 1987 (1987-02-28)
Number of official events	11
Most wins	Mark McNulty (7)
Order of Merit	Mark McNulty
← 1985–86 1987–88 →

Season outline

The season was dominated by Mark McNulty who had one of the best seasons in the history of the Southern African Tour. McNulty won the first three official tournaments as well as the unofficial Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge. Fulton Allem briefly overtook him on the Order of Merit standings with two victories in the middle of the season. However, McNulty won the final four events to secure the Order of Merit title for the third consecutive year.

Zimbabwe's Mark McNulty was looking to win the Order of Merit for the third consecutive season and had much success at the beginning of the season. According to The Daily Telegraph, he was the "clear favourite" to win the inaugural event, the Helix Wild Coast Sun Classic.^[1] McNulty indeed won the event, scoring a final round 66 to defeat John Bland by two shots.^[2] He also won the following week at the Germiston Centenary Tournament, defeating runner-up Fulton Allem.^[3] Days later he began play at the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge, an unofficial event. McNulty won again, this time by two strokes over Lanny Wadkins. He earned $300,000.^[4] McNulty won the next official event on tour, the Safmarine South African Masters. It was his fifth win in a row going back to his last event on the European Tour.^[5]

During the middle of the season, Tony Johnstone and Fulton Allem had much success, alternating between wins. Johnstone won the fourth event of the year, the Goodyear Classic by one over Allem.^[6] Allem, however, came back and won the next event, the Palabora Classic, to take the lead on the Order of Merit.^[7] Johnstone went on to win the following week at the ICL International by a wide margin.^[8] Allem then won the subsequent event, the Lexington PGA Championship, by four strokes.^[9]

McNulty dominated the remainder of the season, winning the final four tournaments. At the eighth event, the Southern Suns South African Open, McNulty defeated Allem in a playoff.^[10] McNulty also won the following week at the AECI Charity Classic, again in a playoff, this time defeating Wayne Westner. It was his fifth win of the season.^[11] At the penultimate event, the Royal Swazi Sun Pro-Am, McNulty recorded 30 birdies to finish at 259 (−29) and win easily. He regained the lead on the Order of Merit over Allem.^[12] McNulty then won the final event of the season, the Trustbank Tournament of Champions.^[13] This secured the Order of Merit title.^[14]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1986–87 season.^[13][1]

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (R)	Winner[a]	OWGR points	Notes
23 Nov	Helix Wild Coast Sun Classic	Cape	100,000	Mark McNulty (15)	10
29 Nov	Germiston Centenary Tournament	Transvaal	100,000	Mark McNulty (16)	10	New tournament
13 Dec	Safmarine South African Masters	Cape	110,000	Mark McNulty (17)	20
21 Dec	Goodyear Classic	Transvaal	120,000	Tony Johnstone (4)	10
10 Jan	Palabora Classic	Transvaal	140,000	Fulton Allem (3)	10
17 Jan	ICL International	Transvaal	120,000	Tony Johnstone (5)	10
24 Jan	Lexington PGA Championship	Transvaal	120,000	Fulton Allem (4)	10
7 Feb	Southern Suns South African Open	Cape	100,000	Mark McNulty (18)	16
14 Feb	AECI Charity Classic	Transvaal	100,000	Mark McNulty (19)	10
22 Feb	Royal Swazi Sun Pro-Am	Swaziland	100,000	Mark McNulty (20)	10	Pro-Am
28 Feb	Trustbank Tournament of Champions	Transvaal	150,000	Mark McNulty (21)	10	Tour Championship

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the Southern Africa Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (R)	Winner	OWGR points	Notes
7 Dec	Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge	Transvaal	US$1,000,000	Mark McNulty	14	Limited-field event

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.^[14]

Position	Player	Prize money (R)
1	Mark McNulty	134,690
2	Fulton Allem	105,249
3	Tony Johnstone	56,417
4	Hugh Baiocchi	56,124
5	John Bland	47,306

Notes

1. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Southern Africa Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Southern Africa Tour members.