Charl Schwartzel Reflects on the Pistorius Case LOS ANGELES - They are both A-list sports celebrities in South Africa, but Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champion, said he has never met Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee track star accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend. "I've got no idea what he's like as a person or anything about his personal life," Schwartzel said Friday after vaulting into contention at the Northern Trust Open with a four-under-par 67. At the tournament's halfway mark, he is at minus-6. "It's a shock," Schwartzel said. He's a South African legend, and it's hard to see. The fatal shooting shone a spotlight on the violence that is part and parcel of life in South Africa. In a story Friday from Johannesburg, The Times's Lydia Polgreen quoted from an editorial in The Star, a national daily newspaper, which read: "The true tragedy of our country is that the abnormal is becoming the normal. Violent crime has transcended and redefined the benchmark of brutality - and we accept it. Schwartzel, who is from Johannesburg, is aware of violence's long shadow in Verceeniging, where he lives with his wife, Rosalind. "I mean, you're cautious," he said. I sleep with a 9-millimeter next to my bed. But you've got to hopefully never have to use it. In his last three European Tour events, Schwartzel has recorded a second-place finish, a victory and a third. His best finish on the PGA Tour last year was a tie for fourth at the tour stop outside Miami. Asked what has been the key to his fine play of late, Schwartzel smiled and said, "Lucky." It helps that he is healthy. Schwartzel, 28, played the final round of the United States Open with a rib injury that sidelined him for several weeks. "I fixed up my swing after the injury," he said. I've got no more pain when I swing the club. That got me back to the consistency that I had going back just about the Masters time. He added: "So with the swing changes, that's worked, or the improvements, I should say, some consistency has come and some confidence. So that was probably key. The post-major slump that affects so many players is hard to circumvent, Schwartzel said, because there is no preparing for life as a major champion. "You've got to go through it to actually realize what it does to you," he said. It's a learning curve, but it's something that I would love to go through again.