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.

Danny Willett called it a “ridiculous” amount of money as he cashed in to the tune of $1.25 million by winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City on Sunday, but his sensational final round of 66 to head the elite 30-man field by four strokes deserved no less.

It is a triumph the 27-year-old will no doubt cherish, being just his second, but he also maintains that one of the most lucrative tournaments on the European Tour is extremely special in its own right.

“It’s a ridiculous amount of money to win, but a week like this won’t be matched anywhere, not even on the PGA Tour. It’s great to win against a very good field, because it says I’m improving and I can compete against the best,” Willett said.

The win takes the former amateur world number one into the top 60 on the world professional rankings and means a definite place in the Majors is beckoning, never mind the Ryder Cup points earned by one of Europe’s rising stars.

It was a win based on his aggression off the tee and his deft touch around and on the greens.

“We [he shared the credit with caddy John Smart] had a good game-plan, this course is visually intimidating off the tee, but we wanted to be aggressive and take it on, I trusted my driver. We would take on shots where others would lay back.

“I also felt comfortable on the greens, they remind me of home without much grain on them. The grass around the greens is also not as sticky as elsewhere, it feels similar to home,” Willett said.

With that positive attitude, he perhaps caught the other Englishmen in the final three-ball napping and Luke Donald and Ross Fisher were still trying to get into their rounds by the time Willett had roared to three birdies in the first five holes.

“I hit a lot of driver on the first few holes where a lot of other golfers would hit irons. It meant I had a five-iron into two, a nine-iron into three, where the others are hitting five or six-irons into narrow greens. There was no hanging back for me,” Willett said.

Donald endured a frustrating day on his 37^th birthday with a one-over-par 73, but the overnight leader had the good grace to rave about Willett’s performance.

“I could have played a bit better but I still would have had to shoot five‑under just to tie with Danny.  He played really focused golf today and hats off, he’s a deserved winner.

“He just had a red‑hot putter, didn’t seem to miss and did everything really well. He just drove it amazingly well around here, which is a very tough, tight golf course. There’s a lot of trouble, and every time when the pressure is on, he hit it down the middle,” Donald said.

Willett had reason to be smug as he was barely challenged in the final round, but he admitted that he still felt the pressure.

“It was always comfortable enough, but you still put pressure on yourself, you’re saying ‘well I can only throw this away from here’. Three-putting on nine after I hit two good shots in gave me a kick up the backside and it was a good one to win … “ he said.

He was worth it all the way, particularly on the weekend when he shot 65-66, and the richness of the event means he now has a sizeable head-start on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai.

“It’s obviously a real boost, I’ll be leading the Order of Merit and hopefully the other wins will come along the way,” Willett said.

The quality of his play suggests that win may even come next weekend at the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.

Danny Willett was all-class as he cruised to victory by four strokes in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City on Sunday, shooting an outstanding six-under-par 66 to become the first rookie to win the tournament since Mark McNulty in 1986.

Willett, who finished on 18-under-par 270, all but sealed the triumph on the front nine, a sensational start with three birdies in the first five holes seeing him leap ahead of overnight leader Luke Donald.

In an all-English final three-ball, Donald faded to third on 12-under-par after struggling to a one-over-par 73, while Ross Fisher claimed second after a fine four-under-par 68 left him on 14-under.

Willett displayed a golden touch around the greens, making birdie putts from the fringe on the third and fifth holes, chipping delightfully from the fringe to set up birdie on the par-five second, and producing excellent bunker-shots to save par on the sixth and 12^th holes, while a crucial moment came on the par-five 14^th when a brilliant bunker shot left him with a crunch five-foot putt for birdie. After pulling away when a fly landed on his putter, Willett drained the putt to maintain a three-shot lead with four to play, Fisher and Donald both also picking up birdies at the infamous “love-grass hole”.

It was an utterly frustrating day for Donald, the former world number one trying to return to previous heights. On his 37^th birthday, he bogeyed the third and fifth holes, which Willett birdied, resulting in a pair of two-shot swings.

Birdies on the sixth and ninth holes brought Donald back into contention, but he was still beholden on mistakes from Willett, which never came despite the 27-year-old’s aggressive play.

Instead, it was Donald who immediately faltered on 10, his drive going into the fairway bunker and his second not going anywhere, as he dropped another shot.

Fisher dropped three shots in his round, his second coming up short of the green on the fifth hole, a wayward drive leading to a bogey on six and another tee-shot into the trees on 11 also costing him. He did birdie 13and 14, but Willett was unstoppable.

The former world amateur number one reached the 17^th, with its prize car no longer glistening as storm clouds shut out the sun, and promptly rolled in a 15-foot putt for birdie.

The Yorkshireman from the industrial city of Sheffield had the steel that counted on the final day, a top-class performance bringing him his second European Tour win, but his biggest every paycheque of $1.25 million.

It was a thunderous display to match the thunder that greeted his final putt on 18, a third English winner of the Nedbank Golf Challenge being crowned, joining former world number ones in Lee Westwood and Nick Faldo.