Ordinarily we should be over the fixation of writing about yet another "first black to ." story. But in James Kamte's case, we would like to make an exception. He could very well be the tonic to cure us of the Bafana Bafana anxiety.

Ordinarily we should be over the fixation of writing about yet another "first black to ." story. But in James Kamte's case, we would like to make an exception. He could very well be the tonic to cure us of the Bafana Bafana anxiety.

Kamte, who today tees off in his maiden US Open at what is interestingly called the Bethpage State Park's Black Course, is someone who makes us proud. His is also a tale about the confluence of effort and opportunity.

Kamte's ascension is as due to his diligence as it is to Ernie Els Foundation which paid for his travel and equipment in his early days in golf. Tiger Woods challenged him to qualify for the US Open with the lure of a practice round if he did.

It is also fitting that he will be wearing a label associated with South Africa's greatest golfing legend, Gary Player, who famously said that the harder he trained, the luckier he got.