Ken Borland

Englishman Danny Willett’s impressive triumph at the Nedbank Golf Challenge over the weekend means it is now seven years since a South African won the prestigious title at Sun City, and tournament director Alastair Roper has an interesting theory why.

Trevor Immelman won the 2007 Nedbank Golf Challenge by one stroke from Justin Rose but since then the best South African finishes have been runners-up slots for Tim Clark (2010) and Charl Schwartzel (2012).

This year it was a trio of Englishmen – Willett, Ross Fisher and Luke Donald – who dominated at the Gary Player Country Club.

Sun City is obviously one of the favourite tourist destinations of South Africans and, being at the end of the year, there is a general holiday vibe around the complex. The South Africans in the field inevitably have an entourage of friends and family joining them at the tournament.

“It’s a pity none of the South Africans showed up, it would have been really nice if Charl or Louis [Oosthuizen] had been up there with the Englishmen on Sunday. Just generally, in the last 18 months/two years, South African performances on the world tours have been sub-standard, so it’s partly a form thing that none have won at Sun City.

“Maybe it’s just a lean period, but something else bothers me and that is that there may be too many distractions for the South African golfers. I remember for many years [8] Ernie Els was trying to win here and it bothered me the number of distractions he had.

“At the South African Open or the Alfred Dunhill, there’s not as much of a demand on their time. Here, all their friends want to be with them and they’re asking for tickets, for access and when they can have dinner together. A guy like Willett was here with his caddy, his wife and maybe one friend,” Roper told The Citizen on Monday.

Roper said the increase in the size of the field from 12 to 30 had led to a similar rise in interest in the tournament.

“I was always the biggest skeptic about going to 30, I was very confident that 12 was the right way to go. But last year it surprised me what a positive reaction we had from the sponsors and we’re getting that same feeling again. More players and more golf is what they want to see.”

That has translated into the number of corporate hospitality suites – the lifeblood of the tournament – rising to 35 and including a diversity of sponsors.

“We want a demand for those facilities, that’s key to the success of the tournament, it’s built around hospitality, and those sponsors continue to be happy. We’ve had more this year in terms of numbers of sponsors and it’s been a whole different bunch of sponsors as well,” Roper said.

The tournament director said there had been little change in the number of spectators attending the event, with just over 60 000 coming over the four days, while the reach of the Nedbank Golf Challenge on television – showcasing Sun City as a tourism destination – continues to grow.

Ross Fisher and George Coetzee each played the first 15 holes of the Nedbank Golf Challenge without dropping a shot, but it was Englishman Fisher who nailed two successive birdies to claim a two-stroke lead in the first round at Sun City on Thursday.

Fisher, tall and athletic, could be a poster-boy for elegant golf and he produced high-quality iron play and deft putting to move to a brilliant seven-under-par.

Coetzee is more on the burly side but he matched Fisher through 10 holes with five birdies, but thereafter found himself scrambling for pars more than he was putting for birdies.

Brooks Koepka of the United States and Frenchman Alexander Levy will also fancy their chances of finishing high up on the first-round leaderboard as they moved to four-under-par through 14 holes.

South African Charl Schwartzel will be pleased that he has managed to collect five birdies, to offset two bogeys, while struggling with his swing and will be a force to be reckoned with if he continues to improve.

Defending champion Thomas Bjorn raced out of the blocks with a birdie at the first hole, but a double-bogey and two bogeys on the front nine, plus two more dropped shots on the back nine has seen him quickly plummet to the lower reaches of the leaderboard on five-over-par.

Seven golfers were on two-under – veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez, Brooks Koepka, South Africans Tim Clark and Louis Oosthuizen, Jonas Blixt, Marcel Siem and Stephen Gallacher.

Both Coetzee and Fisher relied on precision iron play as they vaulted into the lead around the turn with a pair of birdies on the par-five ninth and 10th holes.

Thailand’s Kiridech Aphibarnrat had provided plenty of entertainment for the Sun City spectators as he claimed an early share of the lead when he played the first five holes in three-under-par, with four birdies and a bogey, but bogeys on the ninth, 14th and 16th holes saw him fall back. Coetzee claimed birdies on the first three holes to provide early cheer for those hoping for a first South African winner of the Nedbank Golf Challenge since Trevor Immelman in 2007.

The opening holes of the European Tour event held few worries for the golfers as Joost Luiten, Dawie van der Walt, Gallacher and Danny Willett all picked up an early brace of birdies.

Van der Walt, in the field by virtue of winning the 2013 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, made the fastest start of all by birdieing the first hole and then chipping in for eagle on the 520m par-five second, but he could not pick up any more shots on the next three holes, dropping a stroke on the par-three fourth after finding the greenside bunker and then leaving his chip way past the hole. Three successive bogeys from the 15th hole then left him well off the pace.

A disastrous triple-bogey seven at the 11th saw Luiten slump to over-par for his round.

Clark, who teed off in the first group, set the early pace with birdies at the first two holes, but he then lost his way with a bogey at the fifth and a double-bogey at the tricky par-four eighth, before getting back under par with birdies at the 10th and 11th holes. He completed a solid two-under-par 70 with a superb 30-foot putt for birdie from off the green on the last hole.

The conditions at Sun City were close to perfect, a slight breeze helping to offset the heat, and the golfers took advantage with 13 of them under par.

 http://citizen.co.za/286743/fisher-masterclass-at-sun-city/