Sunshine Tour Announces Major Coup

Following extensive meetings in Augusta, Georgia with the US PGA Tour and the International Federation of PGA Tours (of which the Sunshine Tour is a founder member), Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour Gareth Tindall today announced that the Sunshine Tour will host and stage a World Golf Championships event in South Africa from 2012.

While the exact dates and venue are still to be confirmed, the event, which will feature the top 70 players on the Official World Golf Ranking, will be closely linked to building awareness of poverty and the HIV/Aids pandemic in Africa and will be known as the Tournament of Hope.

“This is, without doubt, the most significant milestone in the history of professional golf in South Africa,” said an elated Tindall on his return from Augusta. “It is something that we as the Sunshine Tour have been working on for a long time and the unanimous support that we have received from the other professional Tours around the world confirms the major standing of our players and the Sunshine Tour in world golf.

“What is even more significant is that we have the commitment that we will host this World Golf Championships event for a period of five years. That has enormously positive implications for the game and for our country as a whole.”

Also coming out of the meetings was the fact that the dates of the South African Open Championship and the Alfred Dunhill Championship will swap so that the SA Open will no longer clash with The Presidents Cup, which will be held in Australia from 16 to 21 November. This will clear the way for defending champion Ernie Els, new Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and other South Africans to play in both events.

“The International team in this year’s Presidents Cup is likely to feature at least five South Africans,” said Tindall, “and we wanted to ensure that they have the opportunity to play in both events. We are delighted that we were able to reach this agreement and must pay tribute to our long-time sponsor Alfred Dunhill for agreeing to the compromise.”

In closing, Tindall added, “We now find ourselves at the beginning of one of the most exciting chapters in South African sport and we have plenty of work to do. We look forward to being able to make further announcements about the WGC event in due course.”

Van Zyl Hopes 67 is Season Kick Start

Jaco van Zyl 

Jacon van Zyl has had a bit of a struggle on the European Tour so far this year, but in the stifling heat of the opening round of the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco, he put together an opening round of four-under-par 67.

It put him in a share of fifth with six other players, including compatriot George Coetzee – a player who is also a Telkom PGA Championship winner back in South Africa.

The event is played over two courses ahead of the cut, and Van Zyl played his opening round on the par-72 Golf du Palais Royal – the same course on which leader Peter Lawrie of Northern Ireland carded an eight-under 64.

Coetzee’s four-under was a 67 – achieved on the par-71 Golf de L’Ocean.

Van Zyl missed the cut in his opening two events in Europe after he began his European campaign with a solid 27th in the South African Open Championship and a fine fourth in the Africa Open.

He gained his European Tour card at the Qualifying School in Spain last December, and struggled to get under par in the Sicilian Open and the Open de Andalucia – although he managed to get things on track with his second-round 69 in the Spanish event last week.

Two bogeys in his opening round in Morocco were still a bit of a worry for him, but a 68 has put him in a position to comfortably make the cut and then try to challenge over the weekend.

Keith Horne carded a two-under 69 at Golf de L’Ocean, while Shaun Norris was one-under on the same course.Hennie Otto battled there with a one-over 72.

Bekker leads Kenyan Sunshine Tour Field

Oliver Bekker 

Oliver Bekker has been knocking on the door for a while now, and he takes his campaign for a maiden professional victory to Kenya this week as he plays in the Barclays Kenya Open on the European Challenge Tour.

Bekker, who was runner-up to Warren Abery in last year’s Nashua Masters, has had 12 top-10 finishes since his professional career started in 2008.

His latest was his fifth-place finish in the Telkom PGA Championship behindGeorge Coetzee in February, which was a performance which spoke of a new-found grittiness to his game.

He is one of nine South Africans – and a further six Sunshine Tour members from other southern African and European countries – who will tee it up at Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi from Thursday.

In the Telkom PGA Championship, he made just three bogeys and a double during the four rounds, as he produced three rounds of seven-under-par 65.

It was just the second round during which he was unable to get a roll on, and two of his bogeys came during that one-under 71.

And it was his final round which was the eye-opener: He started slowly as he battled to make up ground on the leaders, and he turned in one-under 35.

But as he headed for home, the floodgates opened. He picked up a birdie on 10, and then, on his final four holes, went birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie to close in 30.

It wasn’t enough to win, but the 26-year-old from Stellenbosch could sense that the breakthrough is imminent.

Besides the Challenge Tour opposition he will face in Nairobi, he has to contend with the likes of Michiel Bothma, Tyrone Ferreira, Jake Roos, Branden Grace and Alex Haindl, all of whom have won on the Sunshine Tour.

Josh Cunliffe, Tyrone Mordt and Daniel Greene are the other South Africans in the field.

Zimbabweans TC Charamba and Akil Yousuf, Kenyan Dismas Indiza, Zambia’s Kangwine Chiluba, Switzerland’sAndre Bossert and Neil Cheetham of England are the other Sunshine Tour members in the field.

And, while it doesn’t count towards the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, Bekker will be hoping that he converts his South African form into a victory in Kenya.

JG Classen wins MTC Namibia PGA

JG Claassen

He was just trying to get it close on the 16th, but when his putt from two metres off the green on the 16th went in, JG Claassen had made the putt which won him the R1.2-million MTC Namibia PGA Championship.

It gave the rookie his maiden victory in just his fifth tournament as a professional, and it came in just the second event in which he made the cut.

“It’s been a bit of struggle,” he admitted after he’d sunk to his knees in relief on his way to sign his scorecard, “but this more than makes up for the tough times I’ve had this year.”

After that monster putt, he went on to card a final-round six-under-par 65 on the 6,570-metre par-71 Windhoek Country Club, and it was fitting that the best round of the day should win the tournament.

He finished on 16-under-par 268, one stroke clear of overnight leader Christiaan Basson, with Josh Cunliffe a further two shots behind.

“Christiaan had a putt for birdie on 16,” said Claassen, “so I was just trying to get mine close, take par and get going again on 17.”

Instead, it was the second big putt in a row that went down for him, and he was suddenly in pole position as he walked up the 18th fairway after his approach shot found the fringe to the left of the big green.

He putted again, but he went three feet past the hole, leaving himself with a knee-trembler to secure the victory.

But it went securely into the hole, and Basson paid dearly for his dropped shot on the second – a fault which Claassen managed not to duplicate throughout a flawless final round.

He missed the cut in his first tournament as a pro in the Joburg Open, but two weeks later, he earned his first cheque with a share of 20th in the Zimbabwe Open – it was for R14,291.66.

He then missed cuts in the Dimension Data Pro-Am and the Telkom PGA Championship, prompting him to head to Namibia more in hope than in confidence.

His length off the tee immediately caught the eye, and he opened with a respectable two-under 69.

A pair of consecutive 67s put him in contention going into the final round, and he handled the pressure of trying to chase down Basson, who held a two-stroke edge, with aplomb – apparently.

“I did feel the pressure,” he admitted, “but I just concentrated on what I was doing, and, when I got those birdies on 15 and 16, I knew I had a chance.”

That chance gave him a cheque which vindicates the decision of any successful amateur to turn pro – it was for R190,200.

Basson Leads by Two in Namibia

Christiaan Basson

After a slow start, Christiaan Basson made five birdies on his closing nine to head the R1.2-million MTC Namibia PGA Championship by two strokes after the third round.

His five-under-par 66 had him in the lead over Sunshine Tour rookie JG Claassen, who dropped two shots coming home in his four-under 67 to be at 10-under for the tournament going into the final round.

One shot further back is the trio of Josh Cunliffe, Albert Pistorius and Ryan Tipping, all of whom had opportunities to get ahead, but spurned them with two bogeys apiece on the back nine of the 6,570-metre par-71 Windhoek Country Club.

“I just played solid golf,” said Basson. “It didn’t want to get going in the beginning, but I knew I just had to stay patient and in the end a couple started falling and I got a bit of momentum.”

Like all his rivals, he also dropped a shot, but it was just a single one on the 339-metre par-four 14th.

“Today, I made one or two putts down the back nine, and I also chipped in once, on the 15th, and that always helps,” he said.

Basson, who is looking for his second victory as a professional after his maiden win in 2009 in the Coca-Cola Championship, was not sure how well he was going to sleep on the lead.

“When I won, I came from one shot down,” he recalled, “so I’m pretty sure I’ll be nervous for the first few holes of the final round.”

Claassen used all his length off the tee to his advantage in his round, and, when he eagled the 530-metre par-five 10th, he hit the front.

However, length like his needs to be controlled, and he bogeyed 14 and 16. Even with his birdie on 15, he slipped out of the lead, and will have to work to get on top of the leaderboard again.

Cunliffe also eagled the 10th – he chipped in from just short of the green, but bogeys on 13 and 15 stymied his charge.

“It always seems to happen,” he lamented as he tried to work out the kinks on the range after his round. “Now I have left myself with more work than I would have liked tomorrow.”

Tipping’s pair of bogeys came in succession on the 16th and 17th, after all the hard work had been done and he had made three birdies to lead the tournament.

And Pistorius bogeyed 13 and 16 as they all let Basson skip clear.

“The course is playing a bit tougher than previous years,” said Basson, “and under the conditions, you have to be steady and you can’t make mistakes.”

MTC Namibia PGA Championship Leaderboard

Prinavin Nelson Leads in Namibia

Christiaan Basson scrambled his way around the 6,570-metre par-71 Windhoek Country Club to reach halfway in seven-under-par, two off the lead in the R1.2-million MTC Namibia PGA Championship.

He trailed Prinavin Nelson by two, together with Albert Pistorius and Justin Walters, while Ryan Tipping was sandwiched between them and the leader at eight-under, alone in second.

It was Basson's opening six-under-par 65 which put him in a good early position, but it was a round of making sure things didn’t spin out of control which kept him in contention.

“Today I kind of scrambled around and I didn’t really play well,” he said. “I think my short game saved me once or twice.”

There were two occasions when it didn’t save him, when he made bogey-four on the 210-metre 13th, and a bogey-five on the closing 425-metre 18th.

“I didn’t hit a good shot on 13,” he said, “and it was so muddy that it was difficult to get a decent strike on the ball there, but I hit a good putt to make bogey.

“On the last hole, I just hit it in the rough and got a mud-ball, which could have gone pretty much anywhere, and I couldn’t get it up and down,” he added.

Basson is looking for his second professional victory after he won the 2009 Coca-Cola Championship.

Co-incidentally, Branden Grace is also looking for a second professional win, and he won the 2010 Coca-Cola Championship.

Grace carded a two-under 69 to move into a share of ninth position at five-under-par. At four off the pace, he – as well as multiple Sunshine Tour winners Jean Hugo and Darren Fichardt – is very much still in the hunt.

Nelson, who is also a one-time winner after he won the 2009 SAA Pro-Am Invitational at Paarl, found that his putting was his strong point in his three-under-par 68, during which he dropped his first shot of the tournament – on the 16th, which was his seventh of the day which started on the 10th for him.

Tipping, too – whose sole victory came in the 2009 SAA Pro-Am Invitational at Randpark – putted well during his four-under-par 67.

Behind the leading group, Doug McGuigan’s six-under-par 65 was the best round of the day. With five birdies, and eagle and a single dropped shot, he found himself in a share of sixth place with Louis de Jager and JG Claassen.

The leading Namibian player remained Joe Nawanga, who followed his opening four-under-par 67 with a two-over 73 to comfortably make the cut.

Leaderboard

Groenewald Fires 63 at MTC Namibiia PGA

Vaughn Groenewald

Vaughan Groenewald opened the R1.2-million MTC Namibia PGA Championship with a flawless eight-under-par 63 on Thursday to take the early first round lead.

He started on the 10th hole of the 6,570-metre par-71 Windhoek Country Club, and promptly racked up a birdie, an eagle and a second birdie in succession to be four-under through three holes.

He never relinquished his grip, picking up a third birdie on the 15th – his sixth for the day – and then making three more birdies in a row from the fifth to the seventh as he closed two shots clear of Christiaan Basson.

With heavy rains making the course soggy, many players found the going tough, but Groenewald saw the dampness as a positive: “With it being so wet, it means that the ball doesn’t roll as far when you hit it off line,” he said.

“And, if you miss the green, it generally stays close, so you have a better chance of getting up and down,” he added.

Basson, although shorter off the tee – as well as in stature – than Groenewald, felt the same about the wet course.

He was just relieved that the swing changes he made ahead of the Dimension Data Pro-Am in February have taken effect. “It wasn’t quite right at Di Data,” he said, “but they seemed to be better at the Telkom PGA Championship.

“Now it felt settled in this bogey-free round,” he added.

Behind Basson in an early share of third place was a group consisting of nine players, including multiple Sunshine Tour title holders Michiel Bothma, Jean Hugo, Darren Fichardt and Trevor Fisher Jnr.

With them were Branden Grace who won his maiden professional title last year and Oliver Bekker who is looking for his first.

MTC Namibia PGA Leaderboard

Bekker Plans Improvement at MTC Namibia

Oliver Bekker 

Oliver Bekker finished in a share of 51st last time he played a tournament at the Windhoek Country Club, and a lot has changed for him ahead of this week’s R1.2-million MTC Namibia PGA Championship.

He played 46 tournaments in his rookie season, and finished 48th on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, and the Namibian event in 2008 was not one of his best finishes.

He had five top 20 finishes mixed in between his eight missed cuts, and his 2010 season showed a marked improvement with five top 10s in his 24 tournaments for 26th place on the Order of Merit.

He matched his tally of top 10s in 2010, but slipped one position in the Order of Merit, but he had a breakthrough performance in the Nashua Masters in November when his closing 66 was just not enough to match winner Warren Abery.

And as he begins his first round on Thursday in the Namibian capital, he takes a new-found confidence on the fairways after an eye-popping performance in the Telkom PGA Championship behind winner George Coetzee.

He closed with a pair of seven-under-par 65s in fifth place, but it was his ability to keep things together under pressure which was different from anything he had achieved before.

When things got a little tough in his opening nine in the third round with a double-bogey and a bogey, he responded calmly with five birdies in his closing nine, including four in a row to right the ship.

And on the final day, he didn’t put a foot wrong, and played his final four holes in five-under, with three birdies and an eagle.

That kind of play has him in 14th position on the Order of Merit, and on the soggy Windhoek fairways with the Namibian bush really long in the rough, he’s going to have to be as accurate as he was in his last tournament.

Accuracy will be his biggest test, with the likes of Branden Grace, Jbe’ Kruger, Neil Schietekat and Neil Cheetham to contend with – all of who were very straight for most of the week in the Telkom PGA Championship.

With defending champion Hennie Otto – he won in 2009 when the event was played at Rossmund in Swakopmund – not in the field, the last man to win in Namibia is Zimbabwe’s TC Charamba, who beat Nic Henning and Merrick Bremner in a playoff in November 2008. He, too, can put pressure on Bekker.

But the big Stellenbosch pro is surely ready for a maiden victory – if it all falls into place for him.

Round 1 Draw