Ken Borland

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.

Luke Donald was the star of the show and the leader after the second round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City on Friday as he fired a superb nine-under-par 63, the tournament’s best round since 2011.

Donald was two shots clear of overnight leader Ross Fisher on 10-under-par and his round was blemish-free and a brilliant display of precision golf.

Fisher was also two shots ahead of his nearest challengers after a battling two-under-par 70, with Frenchman Alexander Levy on six-under and Danny Willett on five-under-par after a 68.

Donald announced himself as ready to return to the top of world golf as the former world number one produced a dazzling round with nine birdies, six of them on the front nine which he has usually found harder to deal with on his seventh visit to the Gary Player Country Club.

“Obviously nine birdies around this place is a great round and something I was very pleased with. It’s been a while since I played such a solid round. I gave myself a lot of good opportunities today, I didn’t put myself into too much trouble. Obviously when the putter is warm, it’s always one of my best weapons in the bag, so it was nice to roll in a few today,” Donald said.

The 36-year-old – he turns 37 on Sunday – described himself as always feeling in control during his round and that was certainly not the impression Fisher, Marcel Siem or George Coetzee gave as the final three-ball were overtaken by the first man to win both the European and PGA tour moneylists in the same year.

The trio all made silly mistakes as the notorious Sun City rough punished their waywardness.

While Fisher held it together well enough to stay in touch with his fellow Englishman Donald, Siem was left six shots off the pace after a 72 and Coetzee was eight strokes back after a disappointing 74.

“It was a strange day, the total opposite from yesterday. It started really nicely, but all of us had problems on the golf course today. It was not like yesterday where we fed from each other. I felt like we were never going to finish, and on 16, we felt the whole tournament was over already. We played five hours, two minutes, just had a really long round and we didn’t play as well as we did yesterday.  Unfortunately the few chances we had on the back nine didn’t drop,” Siem lamented.

“It’s a tough golf course and I don’t feel like I played probably as solid as yesterday. I didn’t hit it as good off the tee. But I still felt like I played pretty solid. I hit one poor tee shot on 14 which cost me a six and had to take a penalty drop there. I got it to five‑under after 11, so I was hoping to kick on and reproduce 66 from yesterday or even a little bit better. But unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be, so I still shot under par, even with a couple of those loose shots coming in.

“Today it just seemed like every putt we over‑borrowed. I hit at least half-a-dozen, if not seven or eight putts, that I hit exactly where I wanted to hit it, and just unfortunately was over-reading the greens today,” Fisher said.

It was left to Frenchman Alexander Levy to act as the challenger to the English dominance as he posted a solid 70.

“It was a good 70, I’m happy because it’s not my best golf but I managed the golf course well. It’s always good to play 70 on this golf course, it’s very difficult and it’s hot,” Levy said.

It’s been the saddest of weeks for the cricketing world with the tragic passing of Phil Hughes in what can only be described as the freakiest of accidents dominating all discussions.

So many batsmen are hit on the head these days (I’m of the school of thought that says helmets encourage them to take their eye off the ball), but Hughes had the awful misfortune of being struck on the side of the neck, just below his helmet’s grille, flush on the vertebral artery, which split and caused the fatal brain haemorrhage.

South Africans have also been mourning the 25-year-old Australian, not least of all because he greatly impressed everyone on these shores with his grit and unorthodox talent as he averaged 53 against the Proteas in five Tests, scoring two centuries and two half-centuries.

The national team has, of course, just returned from Australia, where their 4-1 ODI series hammering caused much soul-searching and anguish amongst their fans, before being overshadowed by the real tragedy that unfolded in Sydney.

Whatever AB de Villiers so brashly said upon his return home about being the better side and South Africa’s World Cup plans being on track, serious questions have been raised about the Proteas’ ability to seriously contend at the global showpiece tournament starting in 11 weeks’ time.

Most worryingly, there is no further ODI cricket scheduled for them before they have to announce their final 15-man squad for the World Cup on January 7. So the five-match series against the West Indies will not provide the selectors with the opportunity to find someone who can bale them out of their current problems in terms of balance and form, because it starts on January 16. Neither is there any franchise 50-over cricket before then.

The squad that plays against the West Indies will be the World Cup squad and those 15 players will have dress rehearsals on five days in which they have to regain form and convince their fans that they are the strong contenders they perceive themselves to be.

South Africa’s most pressing need would seem to be to fill the number seven position with someone who can genuinely contribute with bat and ball. Ryan McLaren, with his mediocre bowling and his weakness against the short ball when batting, has done little lately to suggest he could be a match-winner in that vital position. Sadly, the schedule has dictated that the selectors are not going to be able to see what David Wiese can do.

I would back the Titans all-rounder because he brings power-hitting and a proven ability at the death, as well as the sort of bowling skills the South African attack desperately needs to master on what should be good batting pitches in Australasia.

In terms of cover, the 15-man squad will need to include two extra pace bowlers – perhaps one containing and one more attacking – an extra batsman who can bowl a bit and either an extra spinner or a top-order batsman.

This means Kyle Abbott must surely have secured his ticket, while I would choose Lonwabo Tsotsobe, in great form since returning from injury, ahead of Wayne Parnell. This would also reduce the pressure on the selectors in terms of Black African representation; although Aaron Phangiso deserves to go to the World Cup, his ill-timed injury and the need for top-order batting cover could count against him.

The selection of both Rilee Rossouw and Farhaan Behardien would facilitate cover for both the top three and the middle-order, with Behardien able to fulfil the crucial role of a sixth bowler that was vital in JP Duminy’s absence.

The presence of a genuine all-rounder like Wiese at seven would enable the Proteas to avoid the problem of either having to go into games a batsman or a bowler short, but the other issue they need to solve is not one of personnel but one of skills.

The bowling in the death overs was generally poor and the failure to consistently execute yorkers, slower-ball bouncers and changes of pace means the South Africans lack the weapons the other top teams enjoy.

My World Cup squad: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, David Miller, David Wiese, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Kyle Abbott, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Farhaan Behardien, Rilee Rossouw.

The Tornados will play the Global Gladiators in the final of the Northerns Bash T20 tournament tomorrow, regardless of what happens in the last two round-robin games today at SuperSport Park.

The Gladiators, who lost in the inaugural final in April against the Nashua Phantoms, sealed their place in the showpiece game with a five-wicket win over the Pirates yesterday, with the Tornados beating the Phantoms by the same margin.

The Phantoms were indebted to an unbroken stand of 88 in 11.2 overs between Roelof van der Merwe and Shaun von Berg for their total of 161 for four, but even that did not really challenge the powerful Tornados batting line-up, which completed victory in the 18^th over.

Despite the loss of Aiden Markram in the first over, the Tornados’ run-chase was given the ideal start by Henry Davids and Theunis de Bruyn, who belted 65 for the second wicket off just 30 balls.

Davids fell for 34 off just 18 deliveries when he skied Niki Bouwer into the covers, but De Bruyn marched on to 51 off 31 balls before falling to off-spinner Eden Links.

David Bunn (23) also fell to Links in the 12^th over, but the final 45 runs were knocked off with the minimum amount of fuss by Graeme van Buuren (19*) and Jacques Snyman (25*).

The Phantoms had won the toss and elected to bat, but three of the city’s finest young talents – Danie Rossouw, Blake Schraader and Henk Coetzee – all failed as they slipped to 45 for three. It was left to the far more streetwise Qaasim Adams to provide the bulk of the early run-scoring with his 29 off 19 balls, before the sharp work of Mangaliso Mosehle saw him stumped off the left-arm spin of Bunn.

The enigmatic batting style of Van der Merwe brought him a blazing 71 not out off 44 balls and, with the capable support of Von Berg (29*), he was able to post a competitive, but losing total.

Corbin Bosch, the son of former Test paceman Tertius, was the most impressive of the Tornados bowlers, taking one for 22 in his four overs.

In the morning game, Heinrich Klaasen slammed 54 not out off 37 balls, with Wian van Heerden contributing 32 off 23, to lift the Pirates to 138 for five, but it soon became obvious that they were short of runs as Gladiators opener Cobus Pienaar bashed 51 off 38 deliveries.

After Pienaar’s rapid start, Farhaan Behardien (34*) and Ruan Sadler (17*) were able to nudge the ball about on their way to completing victory with three balls to spare.

The Gladiators were given control by their impressive attack. New-ball bowlers Ethy Mbhalati (1-29) and Sammy Mofokeng (1-26) ran in hard and were disciplined, while left-arm spinner Ryan Houbert was again outstanding, taking two for 17 in his four overs, bringing his figures thus far in the competition to five for 39 in eight overs.

The spinners did well for the Pirates, considering the lack of runs on the board, with Tabraiz Shamsi briefly bringing the outcome into debate with two wickets in the 11^th over and Ruben Claassen, the tall Tuks off-spinner, again shining with two for 21 in four overs.

In a quirk of the scheduling, the two finalists, the Tornados and Gladiators, will play each other today in a warm-up for tomorrow’s title-decider.

Scores in brief

Pirates 138-5 (Wian van Heerden 32, Heinrich Klaasen 54*; Ryan Houbert 2-17). Gladiators 141-5 (Cobus Pienaar 51, Farhaan Behardien 34*; Tabraiz Shamsi 2-18, Ruben Claassen 2-21). Gladiators won by five wickets.

Phantoms 161-4 (Qaasim Adams 29, Roelof van der Merwe 71*, Shaun von Berg 29*). Tornados 162-5 (Henry Davids 34, Theunis de Bruyn 51, David Bunn 23, Jacques Snyman 25*; Eden Links 2-26). Tornados won by five wickets.

Fixtures

Today: 10am Phantoms v Pirates; 1.30pm Gladiators v Tornados.

Tomorrow: 10am 3^rd v 4^th;  1.30pm Final.