Charl Schwartzel was born in Johannesburg. He had a dominant junior amateur career in South Africa, also having won some amateur events overseas. He played for his country in the 2002 Eisenhower Trophy. He then turned professional at the age of eighteen, and following the path of many other leading South African players he qualified for the European Tour late that year. He was then the second youngest South African golfer to do so after Dale Hayes. He earned enough money to retain his European Tour card in both 2003 and 2004. In the 2004/05 season his career moved up a notch, with victory in the Dunhill Championship, a leading tournament in South Africa which is co-sanctioned by the European Tour, and first place on the Sunshine Tour's Order of Merit. In 2005 he finished 52nd on the European Tour's Order of Merit, and in 2005-06 he again topped the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit. His win at the season ending Vodacom Tour Championship took him into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time. His form continued to improve in 2006 and he finished the season placed 18th on the Order of Merit and reached as high as 57th in the World Rankings. Every higher ranked golfer at that time was at least two years older than him. He took first place on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit for the third consecutive year in 2007, and in April 2007 he won the Open de Espana, beating Jyoti Randhawa by one stroke, after a magnificent eagle at the 543 yard par 5 sixteenth hole, and moved into the world top 40. He has played in the Gary Player Invitational several times to help golf icon Gary Player raise funds for various children's charities. In 2008 Schwartzel once again achieved success on the European Tour, by securing victory at the Madrid Masters. After a steady but winless 2009 season Schwartzel started 2010 by winning two consecutive tournaments on the European Tour, both held in his native South Africa, and re-entered the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.