Jayden Schaper

Jayden Schaper (born 14 March 2001) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and Sunshine Tour. He was runner-up at the 2020 Alfred Dunhill Championship and became Sunshine Tour Rookie of the Year for 2020–21 and 2021–22.

Early life and amateur career
Schaper is from Benoni, South Africa, a suburb of Johannesburg, and plays out of Ebotse Golf & Country Club. He had a successful amateur career and was the top ranked junior golfer in South Africa by age 15. In 2017, at the age of 16, he won both the South African Boys U17 Stroke Play Championship and the South African Boys U19 Championship, to become the first player to win the "grand slam" of junior titles in South Africa, having previously won the U13 and U15 championships.

In 2019, he won the All Africa Team Championship in Mauritius, and the Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in the United States, a stroke ahead of China's Bo Jin. He became the top ranked South African amateur in March 2019.

Schaper was on the SA National Team and represented his country at the 2017 Junior Golf World Cup in Japan, and played on the International Team in the 2017 and 2019 Junior Presidents Cup.

In January 2020, Schaper tied for sixth at the South African Open in Johannesburg, the best amateur finish in the tournament since Ernie Els in 1989, after having sat just a shot off the lead ahead of round 3.

Professional career
Schaper turned professional early 2020, at age 18. He joined the Sunshine Tour, where he finished runner-up at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in December, and won the Rookie of the Year award back-to-back in 2020–21 and 2021–22.

In 2021, Schaper also joined the Challenge Tour, and in 2023 the European Tour, where he tied for 16th at the Barbasol Championship in Kentucky, a PGA Tour co-sanctioned event.

In the 2024 season, Schaper finished top-10 in all four European Tour and Sunshine Tour co-sanctioned events. He shared the lead heading into the final round of the South African Open, and eventually finished tied 5th after a final round 74.

Amateur wins

 * 2017 South African Boys U19 Championship, Dimension Data Junior Open, South African Boys U17 Stroke Play Championship
 * 2018 North and South Championship
 * 2019 Region 5 International Championship, Western Province Amateur Strokeplay Championship, Junior Players Championship, Ekurhuleni Open, All Africa Team Championship, The Bobby Locke Open

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Team appearances
Amateur
 * Junior Golf World Cup (representing South Africa): 2017
 * Junior Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2017, 2019

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