Ken Borland

Martin Kaymer, in a wonderful advertisement for his composure under pressure, won the Nedbank Golf Challenge by two strokes at the Gary Player Country Club on Sunday.

Kaymer shot a three-under-par 69 to claim the title, beating South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel into second place, but his performance was far from error-free. But the way the German recovered from mistakes was magnificent as he finished on eight-under-par for the tournament.

He was level with Schwartzel as he reached the turn, reeling off three successive birdies to hold off the former Masters champion, who birdied the ninth and 10^th holes. Kaymer was still under pressure, however, with Bill Haas, Louis Oosthuizen and Lee Westwood also in the mix and he needed great skill and mental strength to get out of trouble on three occasions on the back nine.

On the par-three 12^th hole, Kaymer’s tee shot found a greenside bunker and he then chipped the ball 12 feet past the hole, but still made the putt for par.

Two holes later, the former world number one produced the greatest of escapes as his drive was nearer to Rustenburg than the fairway. Fortunately, the ball landed in a clearing in the thick Pilanesberg bush and he was able to hit his second back out, over the trees and on to the fairway. A superb third shot sailed to within 10 feet of the hole, setting up an unlikely birdie on the par-five 14^th.

A bogey on the 15^th, after his approach went over the green and he left his chip 10 feet short, cut Kaymer’s lead back to one stroke over Schwartzel and a dramatic South African victory looked back on the cards as the leader left himself with an 18-foot putt for par on the par-three 16^th. But the 27-year-old Ryder Cup hero sank the clutch putt and from that moment there was little doubt Kaymer would be the victor.

Schwartzel, playing in the two-ball ahead of Kaymer, then bogeyed the 17^th after leaving his approach shot short and then duffing the chip.

Schwartzel finished alone in second place as he ultimately matched Kaymer’s 69, having started the final round two shots back. The 28-year-old was in fine form on the final day, reeling off four birdies in the first 14 holes, before his one and only bogey on the penultimate hole.

The putter was the one club in Schwartzel’s bag that was not firing, however, as he left a few putts within inches of the cup.

Oosthuizen, who started the day one shot behind Kaymer, was left with a mountain to climb after he bogeyed the seventh and eighth holes after over-hitting chip shots. The South African was expelled from the running after he found the greenside bunker on the par-three 12^th hole, another bogey leaving him five strokes behind.

Defending champion Lee Westwood’s bid for an unprecedented hat-trick of titles never really took off, and his stillborn challenge died on the 14^th hole when he found the thick rough to the left of the green, took two attempts to get out and ended with a double-bogey seven.

Debutant Haas pipped both Oosthuizen and Westwood into third as he compiled a solid 71 in the final round, finishing five strokes behind Kaymer on three-under-par overall.

Kaymer said he was delighted his hard work this year had finally given birth to a victory.

“I’m very happy that I’ve finally won this year. I’ve been practising hard and playing well, but it just didn’t happen for me before today. I said to my caddie, Craig Connelly, that we have to win once a year at least.

“My tee shot on 14 was the biggest piece of luck, I was very lucky to find the ball and then it was in a perfect position just to chip out on to the fairway, which led to birdie,” Kaymer said.

The final round at Sun City was played in unusually wet weather, with steady showers through most of the day, but Kaymer said this gave rise to easier conditions.

“Today was the easiest of the four rounds, there wasn’t much wind, it was fairly calm and easier to hit the fairways. It was easy to be aggressive, you could hit mid-irons and the greens were holding, they stopped very quickly,” Kaymer said.

Frontrunners Martin Kaymer and Louis Oosthuizen are in agreement that winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge will not be easy at the punishing Gary Player Country Club course on Sunday.

Kaymer and Oosthuizen played themselves into the final two-ball under cloudy skies in Saturday’s third round, but will be bringing slightly different mindsets to Sunday’s closing round.

Oosthuizen, who is on four-under-par and trails Kaymer by a shot, does not believe anyone is going to be able to run away with the tournament on the final day.

“I can’t see someone shooting 65 or 66. The course is playing really difficult and I won’t be surprised if seven-under wins it. You’ve just got to stay very patient and make sure you give yourself a shout with four or five holes to play,” Oosthuizen said.

“You need to hit as many greens as possible. You can’t just go for the pins, that would be silly. The best score in the tournament has been 69 and I cannot see someone shooting much lower than that,” the South African said.

Kaymer is in pole position going into the final round, but he said that does not mean he will lock away all his attacking ambitions.

“It will be a mistake to try and defend my lead. You need to hit fairways and greens and that will lead to a few chances. But if you don’t hit fairways, you’re not going to get any birdies.

“I’ve been very surprised how difficult the course is though, so I won’t be too aggressive. Even level-par is a good score in these conditions,” Kaymer said.

Kaymer displaced NGC defending champion Lee Westwood as the world number one in early 2011, but his form has waned this year, before returning just in time for Europe’s miraculous Ryder Cup victory, in which the German sank the putt that ensured they would retain the famous trophy.

“I played very well before the Ryder Cup and I was ready to go two or three weeks before the tournament. Winning it was a huge thing, the ultimate, because I’ll never be under more pressure.

“I haven’t had a win otherwise in 2012, but it’s still been a very good year because I’ve made progress with my swing. I’m hitting the ball very well and I’m happy with my game. Golf is a game of patience and I still have 20 years ahead of me. Or 30 if I’m like Bernhard,” Kaymer quipped in reference to his countryman Bernhard Langer, who won the Nedbank Champions Challenge for the senior golfers on Saturday.

Louis Oosthuizen once again ate something dodgy at the Sun City beach party but had recovered sufficiently by Saturday to position himself nicely just one stroke behind leader Martin Kaymer after the third round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club.

Kaymer shot a solid two-under-par 70 on Saturday to move to five-under overall, but Oosthuizen closed in on the former world number one with a three-under 69, the joint best round of the day.

Fellow South African Charl Schwartzel is one stroke back after a 70, while two-time defending champion Lee Westwood and rising American star Bill Haas are tied for fourth on two-under-par.

When Oosthuizen made his NGC debut in 2010, he suffered a reaction to eating seafood at the famous beach party at the Valley of the Waves and finished last.

“Two years ago, the whole tournament felt like a blur, I just felt terrible,” Oosthuizen said.

Unbelievably, the South African once again picked up a stomach bug at this year’s beach party and did well to struggle his way to an even-par 72 in the second round.

“Yesterday I wasn’t feeling good at all. Today I still had a bit of cramps and pain in my stomach area, but at least I was able to eat a bit, to get something in me,” Oosthuisen said on Saturday after his round.

The 30-year-old from Mossel Bay produced a skilful display of golf on Saturday, thriving in the tough conditions as sunny skies gave way to cloud and occasional light rain.

“The weather was like on the coast, the wind was all over the place and the ball just didn’t go as far. The rain didn’t do much to make the greens easier either,” Oosthuizen said.

Kaymer, however, is in pole position after recovering from a bogey on the par-four third hole to collect three birdies and not drop another shot.

The German said it had taken him a while to lock down his distance control after a dramatic overnight change in weather.

“It was a bit more difficult than yesterday, especially the first few holes because usually the ball goes a bit further in the heat,” Kaymer said.

“Usually the ball goes 10% further, but it took a while to work out whether it was 10% less today or 5% less. And the wind was swirling around on a few holes too.”

Overnight leader Paul Lawrie’s challenge waned as he struggled to a 75 on Saturday to trail Kaymer by four shots, four bogeys in his first eight holes serving to derail his round.

Schwartzel played some inspired golf, dropping just one shot after a wayward drive on the testing par-four eighth hole as home fans contemplated a first South African triumph in the exhibition event since 2007.

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Bernhard Langer’s dominance under sunny skies was not quite as pronounced when it clouded over at the Gary Player Country Club on Saturday, but the German still claimed victory in the Nedbank Champions Challenge in  relatively easy fashion.

Langer led the seniors’ competition by four strokes overnight and, even though Jay Haas shot an even-par 72 to narrow the gap, the two-time Masters champion could afford to shoot a two-over-par 74 and still win by two shots.

Langer, who won the Nedbank Golf Challenge in 1985 and 1991, said the victory made up for last year’s runners-up finish to Mark Calcavecchia when he surrendered the lead in the final round.

“It’s very satisfying because of what happened last year. It still came down to the end because the wind was very tricky and I missed more greens, which makes bogeys inevitable. But Jay was also very solid today, he drove the ball terrifically and he was good with his wedges too. To be fair, he was a bit unlucky with a few putts,” the gracious Langer said.

The tournament became a two-horse race with Ian Woosnam only managing a 72 on Saturday to finish five strokes adrift, while defending champion Calcavecchia fared even worse, slumping to a 13-over-par 85.

Haas put some pressure on Langer with a flawless inward nine and Langer was in some difficulty on the 14^th hole, when he had just a two-stroke lead and he faced a tricky up-and-down for par.

“It was fantastic to get that up-and-down on 14 and then on 15 I was hitting out of the semi-rough, a very tricky second shot. It landed perfectly but then it took off downwind and finished right at the back of the green. I had a 40-45 foot putt with about three feet of break, but I hit it absolutely brilliantly, with the perfect speed, for a crucial birdie,” Langer said.

The birdie gave Langer a three-shot lead with just three holes to play and he could afford a bogey at the par-four 17^th after his approach shot slid off left into the water short of the green. But, after the drop, he hit a wonderful chip shot to within a few feet of the hole.

The 55-year-old then pushed his tee shot on the final hole into the semi-rough and decided to lay up rather than risk letting Haas back into the contest.

“I had a horrible lie, so I could just chip the ball out and I then made a great up-and-down with a seven-iron and a putt from about 10 feet,” Langer said.

Haas had begun the final round shakily with two bogeys in his first three holes, before a birdie at the par-five ninth kept him in touch, egging him on to a brave challenge on the back nine. But the putts just refused to drop for the American.

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