Danny Willett was in pole position with a four-shot lead as the Nedbank Golf Challenge entered the final straight at the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City on Sunday.

The English trio of Willett, Luke Donald and Ross Fisher made up the final three-ball and were the only golfers who had a realistic chance of claiming the title and the first-prize cheque of $1.25 million.

Donald began the day with a one-stroke lead over Willett, with Fisher another two shots back.

But Willett roared out of the blocks, his list of birdies in the first five holes earning him a comfortable lead, which he built on with another shot gained at the par-five 10^th, taking him to 16-under through 12 holes.

Fisher, who won the Tshwane Open in Centurion earlier this year, was tied for second place on 12-under with Donald after going out in two-under 34 thanks to consecutive birdies at the eighth and ninth holes.

The tall 34-year-old then drained a 15-foot birdie putt on the 10^th, but a wayward drive on the 11^th, rebounding off the trees but not allowing him a shot at the green with his second, led to a bogey.

Donald also clawed a shot back when he birdied the par-five ninth after laying up – Willett getting on in two but misreading his eagle-putt – but the former world number one immediately gave the stroke back with a bogey at 10, a visit to a fairway bunker which he couldn’t initially get out of costing him an extra shot.

The fickle fortunes of golf were clearly displayed in the opening holes of the final round as Willett snatched a three-shot lead.

Overnight leader Donald must have been contemplating what a harsh mistress the game can be as, on his birthday, he bogeyed two of the first five holes and watched Willett fire his way to the top of the leaderboard with three birdies.

And just to top his frustration, Donald birdied the par-four sixth after a super approach shot but watched Willett escape from trouble as he salvaged a par with a brilliant up-and-down after being embedded in the bunker behind the green.

Willett had a perfect record from the fringe, a delightful chip down the hill on the par-five second setting up a birdie and the 27-year-old then rolled in birdie putts from the fringe on the third and fifth holes, both par-fours.

Donald’s 10-foot birdie putt on the sixth pulled one stroke back after bogeys on the third and fifth holes led to a pair of two-stroke swings with Willett.

On the third, Donald put his approach into the bunker left of the flag, short-siding himself, and an awkward lie meant he could only chip across the green. The birthday boy, celebrating his 37^th, short-sided himself again on the fifth with a wayward approach shot over the green.

Fisher would have been perfectly happy with his start as a 10-foot putt on the par-three fourth gave him his second birdie. But successive bogeys then undid those gains, his approach on the fifth finishing short of the green and a wayward drive on six, followed by his third shot going over the green, led to another dropped shot, leaving him five behind Willett.

Frenchman Alexander Levy was also contemplating the vagaries of the game as he took 10 at the par-five ninth, twice hitting from the drop zone into the water surrounding the green. To his credit, he was still smiling as he trudged off the green and he birdied the 10^th and 11^th holes.

A quarter of the Fancourt Links is made up of par-threes and Nicolas Colsaerts birdied them all on his way to a commanding four-shot lead in the first round of the Volvo Golf Champions on Thursday.

Colsaerts is known for his no-holds-barred driving off the tee, but his brilliant nine-under-par 64 was actually set apart by his superb iron-play and clinical putting as he birdied the par-three second, eighth, 11th and 17th holes.

“I’ve never birdied all the par-threes on a course before and you don’t see that on a scorecard that often. You’re not really looking for birdies on the par-threes, I’m thinking more that I can reach most of the par-fives in two, so it was a bonus,” Colsaerts said after shattering the Fancourt Links course record.

The Belgian was level-par through seven holes after bogeying the par-four sixth hole after a three-putt, but Colsaerts, playing his first competitive round at Fancourt, began to work out the intricacies of the course as he finished the front nine with successive birdies. His final stretch was nothing short of magnificent as he closed with four straight birdies – 3-4-2-4.

“I’m very happy, to have the course record on a course like this is quite a thing. I’ve heard about this place for a long time, after the President’s Cup was played here and it being the number one course in South Africa,” Colsaerts said.

Although the wind played a relatively minor part for Fancourt, Colsaerts said he still had to be watchful.

“It was moving a little bit, it switched at times. It was pretty calm at the start but then there was a bit more wind after the ninth. You still had to look at it. I hope it stays like this because the course will be pretty difficult if the wind gets up,” Colsaerts, who was in the fourth two-ball off the first tee at 10am, said.

Apart from the irritating three-putt on the sixth, the only time the 29-year-old was semi-concerned was on the short par-four 14th hole, when he found the fairway bunker. Colsaerts chipped out to just short of the green and then made his up-and-down for par.

The world number 76 seems to have a thing for Volvo-sponsored tournaments, having won the Volvo China Open in April and then reaching the semifinals of the Volvo World Matchplay Championships in Andalucia before losing to Ian Poulter.

“I like to think I’m having a love affair with Volvo, but there are still three rounds to go!” Colsaerts laughed. “But the Matchplay – beating Goosen, McIlroy, Vegas and McDowell – was when I really understood that I can be a top-class golfer.”

The quality of his golf on Thursday was immaculate and the big-hitting lover of house music was still enjoying the feeling when he spoke to the media.

“I just seemed to hole out all day, every birdie was from close range and I took every chance from six-to-eight feet. I was hitting my irons very close and, after you’ve done that three or four times, you just keep firing at the pins. I kept hitting the fairways as well and it was probably one of the best rounds I’ve played, if not the best,” Colsaerts said.