Former European Tour player Wayne Westner has died after he allegedly took his family hostage and shot himself following an incident at the family’s home in South Africa.
Westner, who was ranked as high as 40th in the world during the 1990s, is alleged to have killed himself after his wife and children had locked themselves inside a bathroom.
Police received a call about a hostage situation after the 55-year-old forced his way into the home with a handgun following a recent separation.
The European Tour biography lists his family as wife Alison and children Jeni, 34, Chane, 27, and Matthew, 24.
Police said the couple had recently separated and Westner arrived at the estate in Pennington as his wife was in the process of relocating to Johannesburg. Westner was later found dead at the scene, and no-one else was injured in the incident.
Westerner won 14 professional tournaments during a career that began in the early 1980s, with his biggest wins being the South African Open in 1988 and 1991, and the Dubai Desert Classic in 1993. He also won the 1996 World Cup of Golf with fellow South African Ernie Els before his career was interrupted by injury at the end of the 1999 season.
Els paid tribute to Westner following his death, writing on Twitter: “Sad day, our friend Wayne Westner passed today. Great memories, thank you my friend.”
In recent years he invented a golf training machine called the Instant Golfer and instructed young golfers at the Wayne Westner Golf College in KwaZulu-Natal.