Charl Schwartzel said he had a lot of help on his way to winning the Masters

Charl Schwartzel said he had a lot of help on his way to winning the Masters

Relying on a simple swing taught to him by his father, lessons on how to attack Augusta National from six-times winner Jack Nicklaus, and practice tips from Nick Price, the rail-thin Schwartzel staged a memorable charge to claim his first major.He Mark Wilson Masters Golfing Technique moved up among the Sunday leaders after a long chip-in for birdie at the first and a wedge shot from the fairway that dropped in for an eagle on the third hole, and clinched his triumph with birdies on the last four holes."It's a dream for me," said Schwartzel, a six-times winner on the European Tour. "It's obviously the highlight in my golfing career by a long way."Schwartzel attended Ernie Els's golf academy back in South Africa, won his first European event at age 20 and was tabbed by compatriot Gary Player as a player to watch this week.The 140-pound (63.5 kg) Schwartzel won his Masters on the 50th anniversary of Player's 1961 title that marked the first at Augusta National for an international competitor.Schwartzel grew up on his family's chicken farm outside Johannesburg and learned golf from his father, a talented amateur who became a teaching pro."When I was four years old, I played my first nine holes. He told me from the word go the right grip, the right stance, rhythm, posture, balance. There's five key things that we always worked on," said Schwartzel."Whenever something goes wrong, it will be one of those five that have gone haywire somewhere."His encounter with Nicklaus came over lunch last year during a charity pro-am competition organised by Els.