Ken Borland

Henrik Stenson answered the nagging doubts eating away at him over whether he would ever win again, in emphatic fashion at Serengeti Golf Estate on Sunday, winning the South African Open by three strokes.

The Swede’s previous victory in South Africa came in 2008 when he soared to a nine-stroke victory in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City. It ushered in a golden period for Stenson as he moved to fourth in the world rankings and won The Players Championship (often called the fifth major) at Sawgrass in Florida in May 2009.

His ball-striking was superb and it seemed he would become one of the world’s dominant golfers. Instead, his fortunes went the other way and he did not win again until Sunday’s gripping final day on a hot, stormy East Rand afternoon.

“It’s been three-and-a-half years since my last win. That’s so long you begin to think ‘is there ever going to be another one?’ But you need to put a lot in to get decent results out,” Stenson said after his drought-ending victory.

The 36-year-old struggled with a pneumonia virus in 2010 and just poor form in 2011, but he has also heaped more pressure on himself by playing on both sides of the Atlantic in a daunting playing schedule.

But he looked a true champion on Sunday as he sealed victory in the closing stages of the final round.

He and George Coetzee were neck-and-neck on 14-under-par as they made the turn, Stenson having double-bogeyed the par-three ninth after hooking his tee-shot into the water hazard.

But the world number 113 birdied the 10^th to make the perfect start to the back nine and two more birdies, at the 16^th and 17^th holes, were the coup de gráce.

Coetzee had birdied the 11^th to restore parity, but he bogeyed the par-three 15^th after his tee shot went just over the green. He chipped to seven feet but missed his putt for par.

The South African had more problems on the par-five 16^th as his drive faded away to finish a good 50m behind Stenson’s. Coetzee could not go for the green in two over the water and had to lay up, while Stenson’s second was healthily positioned just short of the green to the right, from where he chipped to three feet and made birdie.

Coetzee could only make par and Stenson then birdied the short par-four 17^th, chipping well from the bunker in front of the green, to allow himself a victory parade down the 18^th. Stenson’s one-under-par 71 left him with an overall score of 17-under-par 271, while Coetzee finished on 14-under 274.

“I knew it would not be easy because we had a pretty firm breeze out there and I had a couple of guys on my tail. George started well, then had a couple of bogeys, but I then threw two shots away on the ninth so we were all square at the turn. But I was not panicking, I knew I had to just keep on playing my own game and keep creating chances. It was all very open on the back nine, but I managed to get a grip from 15 to 18,” Stenson said.

“We all have our ups and downs as golfers, I also had a big slump between 2001 and 2003, and the hardest thing is not to get frustrated. Sometimes it’s things outside golf – your health or your family – which make it difficult to get your practise and playing schedule organised because things are pulling you in various directions. But you just have to bounce back and learn from your mistakes,” Stenson said.

Charl Schwartzel had begun the final round 10 shots behind Stenson, but a brilliant front nine of 32, followed by another two birdies at the 11^th and 12^thholes, saw him surge into contention just two shots behind the leaders. But his charge was cut short by bogeys at the 15^th and 16^th holes and Schwartzel had to settle for fifth place on 11-under-par.

Another Swede, Magnus Carlsson, had begun the final day tied with Coetzee three behind Stenson, but he slipped down the leaderboard with a birdie-less 76.

Thomas Aiken and Germany’s Martin Kaymer produced top-class final rounds of 67 to finish in a tie for third on 13-under-par, while defending champion Hennie Otto secured a top-10 place with a magnificent 10-under-par 62, a course record that was bogey-free and included eight birdies and an eagle.

It was a phenomenal comeback from Otto after a 75 in the third round, the fiery South African playing the last 12 holes without a putter after he ditched the offending short stick into the water surrounding the 15^th green, having begun his round on the 10^th. Otto had to putt thereafter with a wedge.

Branden Grace endured a catastrophic weekend, shooting 78-77 to finish second-from-last on eight-over-par, while 2008 champion Richard Sterne shot a 70 on Sunday for a solid top-20 finish.

There was a lot of pressure on the young Coetzee, who has finished in the top 10 on seven occasions this year but is yet to win on the European Tour. Sadly for the 26-year-old, the monkey is still on his back, but Coetzee did not play badly on the final day, shooting a 71.

Stenson’s ball-striking was just too good and the suave Swede had some words of comfort for his vanquished foe.

“I’m sure George is disappointed, but he played well and he will get that win in time. You have to put in a lot of effort to win, keep positioning yourself to win… and then sometimes you win three very quickly,” was Stenson’s verbal hand on Coetzee’s shoulder.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-11-19-stenson-strikes-it-hot-at-sa-open

It was a win and it may have been an improvement on the last two visits to Edinburgh, but the Springboks’ 21-10 victory over Scotland left more feelings of disappointment than elation.

The sad truth is that South Africa’s attacking play seems to have regressed even more. Having done what was required in the first half in terms of building a foundation, the Springboks scored early in the second half to open up a 21-3 lead.

The Scots looked ready to be put to the sword. With the admirable forwards having done their job, bashing the hosts into submission, the time was surely right to open up and allow the backline to ram home the advantage, score some tries and give the Springboks a handsome victory befitting the team ranked second in the world.

But the backs fluffed their lines. All confidence with ball in hand has drained away from them and, when the chance to open up did arrive, they seemed over-anxious, snatched at opportunities and a rush of basic errors allowed Scotland back into the game.

Coach Heyneke Meyer has constantly stressed how tight Test rugby is, how narrow the margins are, how one mistake can lead to defeat. Which is mostly true, but in emphasising the negative, in ensuring his transitional side understand how easy it is to lose, he has drummed the positive out of them and they seem to have no idea how to win a game, how to well and truly put the opposition away. They are scared to try anything in case it leads to a mistake, heaven forbid.

There has seldom been an international side that has looked so imbalanced in terms of where their strengths lie.

While Meyer has followed conventional wisdom in terms of where South African rugby’s strengths are and is building a formidable pack that is growing more impressive with every outing, backline play seems to be totally neglected.

It is hard to remember even one backline move, wings JP Pietersen and Francois Hougaard barely had the ball in their hands, and, even after the final hooter had gone and the Springboks could not lose, they decided to kick a penalty out and end the game rather than have a go!

The dreadful second half undid all the good work of the first 40 minutes, much as the second half against Ireland made up for the awful first half.

Pat Lambie would have convinced few that he has the kicking game to control a Test from flyhalf and many of the Springboks’ problems in the second half were due to his inability to blast clearing kicks back out of their own half.

That being said, the decision-making was largely left to Ruan Pienaar at scrumhalf, who was solid without setting the world alight. Pienaar had the ball in his hands 56 times, but Lambie only handled on 25 occasions, running just twice and kicking 12 times.

The Springbok ball-carriers, especially Willem Alberts, were effective and there were promising signs in the first half as even the backline took the ball flat and the Scots were struggling to plug the gaps created by front-foot ball.

The rolling maul was also a potent weapon for the Springboks, the first of hooker Adriaan Strauss’s two tries coming from one. The visitors should really have had two tries from the maul, though, as the first one was identical to the second one but was inexplicably denied by the referee, George Clancy.

Strauss did not have any family in the opposition this weekend, but it did not affect Sunday’s birthday boy’s determination. He contributed to a strong scrummaging performance, South Africa’s lineout touched perfection with a 12/12 success rate and Strauss was all over the field to harry and block the opposition. He did superbly in the 46^th minute to intercept Scotland scrumhalf Mike Blair’s pass and scoot away from 40 metres to score his second try and give the Springboks a commanding lead they failed to add to.

The loose trio of Alberts, Francois Louw and Duane Vermeulen continues to impress. Alberts was everywhere, tackling strongly, softening the Scottish defence with his bullocking runs, but also showing a lovely sidestep and a good turn of pace to spark the counter-attack that led to Strauss’s second try.

Louw made an astonishing 17 tackles and won two crucial turnovers, as well as carrying the ball well to deservedly win the man of the match award, while Vermeulen and lock Eben Etzebeth were also strong on defence.

Of the backs, Zane Kirchner continues to provide a solid last line of defence, while wing JP Pietersen also spent the whole match tackling his heart out. There was precious little opportunity for him to shine on attack, while Juan de Jongh could also only show glimpses of his abilities with a couple of darts through the half-gap.

To progress as a team, the Springboks are really going to have to use their backs more.

*Stats courtesy of espnscrum.com

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-11-19-boks-running-more-scared-than-ever

Merrick Bremner was at 225:1 to win the South African Open at the start of the first round on Thursday.

I know because I was reliably informed by a punter who had bet on the 26-year-old to win the second-oldest national open in world golf.

A few hours later, Bremner was atop the leaderboard with an eight-under-par 64 and was the overnight leader after the first round of the co-sanctioned European/Sunshine tour event at Serengeti Golf Estate near Kempton Park.

Those odds will now be considerably shortened and I’m left ruing the fact I didn’t talk to the punter a day earlier.

Bremner, who was in the sixth three-ball out at 7.05am, came roaring out the blocks with birdies on the first two holes and he also claimed three successive birdies coming in to shoot a brilliant 30 for the front nine. The Pretoria resident then eased off on the back nine, coming home in 34.

It’s not that the chunky golfer was getting lazy either. Rather, it was a conscious decision to make sure he converted his great start into a great round.

“I played fantastically on the front nine, I didn’t miss a green and in theory I could have shot 28. Then I made the turn and still hit good shots, but I started thinking a bit more and playing clever golf. I wasn’t as aggressive as normal because I wanted to hold my round together and post a decent score, not four or five-under. I made sure I hit the fairway and then made sure I hit the right part of the green for a makeable chance,” Bremner explained after his round.

Bremner, who began playing golf just down the road at Kempton Park Golf Club, says his clear thinking on the course was thanks to the work he’s done with a sports psychologist.

“I think it’s got a lot to do with the work I’ve been putting in behind the scenes, not only on the golf course but also with a mental coach by the name of Tim Goodenough. Now my thought patterns and decision-making on the course have changed. Now I can see the bigger picture and it’s not just about brawn, it’s sometimes about the brain as well,” Bremner said.

Bremner is renowned for being a big-hitter and his biggest drive was 345 metres, into the wind, on the par-five 16^th. Lady Luck was on his side there, though, as she kept his pulled tee-shot out of serious trouble and allowed him to hit his second over the water and on to the green in two, leading to his eighth birdie.

But on a course that has plenty of threats with lethal rough just off the fairways, the fact that he did not make a single bogey suggests the up-and-coming Bremner is on track to make a big name for himself this weekend.

Bremner is two strokes ahead of another young South African in Matthew Carvell, but Henrik Stenson (-6) and Charl Schwartzel (-4) are lurking dangerously in the top 10.

Carvell is a Sunshine Tour journeyman, having never finished higher than 48^th on the Order of Merit, but the 27-year-old is just going to enjoy the experience.

“This is my first SA Open and my first press conference! It’s a little bit overwhelming so I’m just trying to enjoy the week and see what happens. Maybe I’ll get some good TV coverage!” he joked.

Schwartzel was also impressive in posting six birdies, while his only blemish came on the par-three 12^th, which he double-bogeyed. The 2011 Masters champion said it was a useful reminder of how wide-awake you had to be on the sloping Serengeti greens.

“I made that double by four-putting. It was from off the green, but I used the putter four times, which wasn’t ideal. But the greens are severe and you’ve got to pay really good attention to where you hit your second shots. You can get caught off-guard here very quickly and make a soft bogey on these greens, so you’ve got to be wide awake,” Schwartzel said.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-11-16-south-african-open-bremners-flight-to-the-top