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.

The Springboks versus All Blacks rugby Test at Ellis Park last weekend counted as one of the greatest sports events I have been to and I felt immensely proud not just because our national rugby team won, but also because of the way they played and the way they carried themselves after the long-awaited triumph over their greatest rivals.

Even if one is not impressed by the way New Zealand and South Africa are steering rugby in a bright new direction of high-tempo play, the wonderful spirit shown between the two teams and the obviously high respect they hold each other in, must gladden the heart of all who love sport for the character-building effects it can have.

The wonderful gesture made by the All Blacks in Wellington when Richie McCaw handed over gifts to Bryan Habana and Jean de Villiers for playing their 100^th Tests will live long in the memory. The fact that nothing of that sort happened in Australia probably says more about the special relationship between the Springboks and All Blacks rather than any deficiencies on the Wallabies’ part.

But if the Springboks are going to win over even more hearts and minds – it is clear that still not everyone in South Africa believes they represent them – then perhaps they should take a leaf out of the book of their cricket counterparts who launched their ProteaFire campaign this week to some fanfare.

A huge part of the Proteas’ success in recent years has been due to the calibre of people in the team – the likes of Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy, Dale Steyn, Ryan McLaren, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander are all fantastic human beings – and the Springboks also have some fantastic leaders of men in their ranks, Jean de Villiers, Victor Matfield, Tendai Mtawarira, Adriaan Strauss, Duane Vermeulen, Francois Louw, Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen springing readily to mind.

Rugby will be facing their own World Cup challenge next year, but they will also be tested off the field with sponsors cutting back and transformation issues still bedevilling them.

Whether ProteaFire will help the cricketers finally win their World Cup remains to be seen but what is certain is that most of the population will be firmly behind them.

ProteaFire emphasises the importance of putting the team ahead of the individual and the concept of Ubuntu is a key part of Graeme Smith’s vision that started in 2007. Cricket is often, because of its tradition of statistics, a very individual game and one would have thought rugby, perhaps the greatest of team sports, would have been quicker to implement this sort of mission statement of what playing for the national side really means.

For the cricketers, their diversity will be their strength and rugby probably isn’t quite there yet.

Another important aspect of ProteaFire is that it is almost a contract the national team have signed with their supporters in terms of what is expected of them, on and off the field. As Hashim Amla pointed out, this does not mean treating players like babies.

“On the field, emotions can run high and nobody’s perfect. It’s not about having 15 saints, everybody’s different and it’s about getting the strengths of all 15 players together and dealing with any fallouts,” Amla said.

One cannot help but come to the conclusion that the current turmoil wreaking havoc in English cricket is born out of their failure to deal properly with issues of team culture and identity.

Kevin Pietersen can be a brat, but there have been difficult cricketers before who have been allowed to enjoy the middle of the spotlight while still contributing to the team success.

Last Saturday night at Ellis Park and Thursday night in the SuperSport studios were two proud evenings because it showed South African sports teams are getting it right.