Van Tonder treads boldly to victory at squelchy SA Open 0
The South African Open came to a thrilling conclusion at a squelchy Gary Player Country Club on Sunday with Daniel van Tonder holding off Oliver Bekker to claim the title by one stroke with a dramatic 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole.
Bekker and Van Tonder had been tied on nine-under-par, four strokes behind leader Justin Harding, at the end of the third round when it was completed on Sunday morning. While Van Tonder took control of proceedings with three birdies in four holes from the eighth to take a two-stroke lead, Bekker came with a late charge as he birdied the last three holes.
The seven-time Sunshine Tour winner was inches away from making eagle on the 18th when his 60-foot putt stopped just next to the hole. By then, Van Tonder was in the middle of the final fairway and knew he had to make birdie to win.
More drama was to come though as Van Tonder’s approach only just cleared the water, stopping right next to the yellow markers. He then duffed his chip way short, leaving him with a 25-foot putt for birdie and the win. Fortunately, Hennie du Plessis had a similar birdie putt just before him, which he made to finish third on 12-under-par.
Treading gently is not something the 30-year-old from Boksburg does often and Van Tonder stepped up and nailed the slightly curving putt with confidence.
“All I was thinking was just make the thing, give it a chance. The whole day I had been leaving putts pin-high or lipping out, so I just had to make sure I hit it,” Van Tonder said after his great final round of 65.
“If it goes in, I win, if it stays out then I’m in a playoff. And when it went in I just thought ‘Finally!’.
While Bekker played some amazing golf, chipping in three times on Sunday (making it five for the week), Van Tonder played some tremendous shots of his own.
On the water-lined eighth hole he made a 20-foot birdie putt after having to hit his approach with a mud ball from the rough, and then on the 10th he chipped in from the bank above the hole for another birdie. On the par-three 16th, his superb tee-shot was right on course for the hole and he was left with a five-footer for birdie.
“I’ve been seven and nine shots behind and won, I just play my own game, which is looking for birdie putts. I’m not a bad player you know, I can catch anyone,” Van Tonder said with a twinkle in his eye as he clutched the magnificent SA Open trophy.
Van Tonder’s conquest of the South African Open and arguably the country’s best course ends an epic couple of years for the idiosyncratic golfer.
Van Tonder spent 2020 dominating the Sunshine Tour, then spent six months of this year competing on the European Tour, where he won the Kenya Savannah Classic and finished 75th on the order of merit.
And now he is a South African Open champion.
“I’m very happy. It’s been a long, hard year, having to stay overseas for six months because of Covid. But I love this place, I love playing here and the SA Open is the special one, the second oldest tournament.
“So it’s a big thing to win. It means a lot. Watching others win it has looked so awesome, but now I can walk around and say I’m an SA Open champion,” Van Tonder said.
While the Boksburg golfer generally played extremely well in all four rounds, his 16-under-par total of 272 coming from rounds of 69 68 70 and 65, perhaps his most impressive characteristic was the steel he showed when under pressure.
Bekker’s three-straight birdies to finish left Van Tonder needing a birdie to win, but his approach on the 18th only just cleared the water. He then duffed his chip well short, leaving him with a daunting 25-foot putt to win.
Before those final-hole heroics, Van Tonder had managed to turn a mud-ball in the rough on the eighth, which many consider the toughest hole on which to keep your approach shot dry, into a 20-foot birdie and then chipped in for birdie from the bank above the 10th hole.
“When I was young, I was not the longest hitter so I had to chip and putt well. My short game is still not too bad,” Van Tonder smiled. “My mindset is to attack, hit the fairways and greens and then make the putts.
“The other guys know I have a saying: ‘I can smell blood in the air’. This game is something else because I struggled last week at the Joburg Open and then this week I had my normal game.
“Playing overseas with the best in the world, with all that experience you see that their games are the same. There’s no difference, it’s just mindsets,” Van Tonder said.
And Van Tonder is clearly mentally prepared to deal with whatever hardships he encounters on the course.