MJ Daffue is back in South Africa to tee it up in this week’s Cell C Challenge in Honour of Gary Player at Killarney Country Club, and says he’s excited about getting that excitement for his game that the Sunshine Tour does so well to provide.
“The Sunshine Tour creates such great opportunities. They just do things differently. It’s a different feel here and I love that. It’s really focused on the golfer and golf and providing what I’m looking for at the moment, which is that pure joy and excitement of playing the game,” says Daffue, who has spent the majority of his career campaigning on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour.
His return to his roots on the Sunshine Tour comes after a difficult past two years in which he struggled with injury, and which in turn took its toll on his overall enjoyment of the game.
“It’s been an interesting two years for me. In 2023 I got a bone disease in my right hand and had to undergo surgery. The next year I got an infection in the same hand and had to get three more surgeries. It was a crazy two years of trying to get healthy and get the game back, and finding confidence again.”
With his son having just turned five and never been to South Africa, Daffue decided now was as a good a time as any to make the trip and play a run of Sunshine Tour events including the upcoming co-sanctioned tournaments with the HotelPlanner Tour before heading back to America in April.
“Struggling with the injuries has been a mental challenge for me. I’d also played a lot of golf before that and was a little burnt out. I wasn’t enjoying the game and the traveling. It was just becoming a job and I had no enjoyment. But I’ve made some changes to get things back on track.
"I’m healthy and playing really good golf at the moment. So this seemed like a great opportunity to come to South Africa and find my game and get the love of the game back. I don’t take anything for granted. Competition is competition. I just want to compete and have fun again.
“I’m not focused too much on goals. What I’ve really worked on is to try and respect my own time. If I’m going to play this week, then my time is valuable and I’m going to respect it and make sure I do everything to the best of my ability and focus on that.
"I still visualise myself winning Majors, but I’m working hard on staying in the present and just being the golfer that I’m satisfied with.”
With this tournament played in honour of Gary Player, Daffue says it certainly resonates with him – as it does with all South African golfers – the path that Player laid out for them.
“When I was 11 years old I watched a tournament with Mr Player in it and he came over and handed me a signed golf ball. He set an example to spread your wings and leave South Africa and become an ambassador for us in the game, and I’ve tried to follow that in my own career.”