Ken Borland

It may no longer be a co-sanctioned event, but the allure of playing the SA Open at Gary Player Country Club and having a shot at hoisting that famous and imposing multi-tiered trophy certainly brought out the best of Neil Schietekat on the first day at Sun City on Thursday.

Schietekat fired a marvellous seven-under-par 65 to join Oliver Bekker at the top of the leaderboard and afterwards pronounced his love for the famous Gary Player-designed course, where he won the SunBet Challenge in 2018.

“In my opinion this is the best course in the country and it helps that I’ve won here before,” Schietekat said after collecting six birdies and an eagle. “Obviously I’m going to lean towards this course, but I do love it and I played it today the same way as when I won in 2018.

“When they moved the SA Open here last year, I thought that maybe gave me a better chance of winning it. There’s still a long way to go, but I hit some good shots today on a course that was quite soft.

“It no longer being co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour is another story, but everyone here still wants to win it. It’s still our national open and it’s still the same trophy that you’ll hoist if you do win,” Schietekat said.

Bekker went out early on Thursday morning and made a fast start from the 10^th hole with three successive birdies. The seven-time Sunshine Tour winner was out in 32 and then eagled the first as he came home in 33. Schietekat admitted he felt a bit of pressure chasing the score set by Bekker.

“The scores were pretty good in the morning and I was one-over through four holes, so you put a bit of pressure on yourself,” the 37-year-old from Harrismith said.

But he finally caught him with a run of three successive birdies from the fourth hole, having eagled the par-five first as he spun a pitch-shot back into the hole despite “cursing” himself for finding the fairway bunker from the tee.

Having enjoyed a fine season which includes eight top-10 finishes in 16 events, Schietekat looks well-equipped to win again at the Gary Player Country Club.

But European Tour campaigner Bryce Easton and the experienced Lyle Rowe are just one shot behind on six-under, while there is a group of four golfers tied in fifth place on five-under – Hennie du Plessis, Albert Venter, Heinrich Bruiners and Hennie O’Kennedy.

Former world top 50 golfer Justin Harding is three strokes off the lead after a 68, while the other favourites – Shaun Norris (69), Danie van Tonder (69), defending champion Christiaan Bezuidenhout (70), Dylan Frittelli (70), Dean Burmester (71) and Brandon Stone (72) – have some catching up to do but are decently placed.

Morten Orum Madsen has already triumphed in Johannesburg, winning the SA Open at Glendower in 2013, and the Dane made an early move to the top of the leaderboard in the Tshwane Open on Thursday, posting a seven-under-par 63 in the first round at Pretoria Country Club.

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