Category: Homepage News

Alex Haindl will take a two-stroke lead into Friday’s final round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun City as he seeks to claim his first Sunshine Tour victory in three years.

Haindl signed for a second round of 69 at the Gary Player Country Club on Thursday, dropping only one shot in his round and making a good birdie at the difficult par-four eighth hole as he climbed to eight under par overall.

“It’s the perfect place to be. Hopefully I can keep it up and come out on top,” he said.

His nearest challenger is Jaco Ahlers, who posted a 67 to see him climb to six under par. Zambia’s Madalitso Muthiya is still in the hunt on five under par following a 69.

Haindl has been incredibly solid at the top of the leaderboard since the first round as he looks to finally overcome a long struggle with a back injury and add to his three Sunshine Tour titles to date.

“This was really a nice follow-up round to my opening round,” he said. “I tried to approach the golf course in the same way, but I actually felt like I hit it better today. I gave myself a lot of chances, but I left a few putts out there.”

The single bogey on his scorecard was another source of confidence for Haindl, who in 2018 had to undergo a spinal fusion to correct a previous surgery and which has him playing on a medical exemption this year.

“I’m happy that the work I’ve been putting in is coming together. It has been a while since my last win, and it’s good to be in contention again and playing better. Let’s be honest, when it’s going bad, this is the hardest game in the world. But when I was working on my game and practising at home, there were signs of improvement that give you confidence, even though there were times when I had a lot of pain and struggled to move.

“Only one bogey on this golf course is pleasing because limiting your mistakes here is key. But I’ve been doing a lot of things well for the past two days, and I’ve been putting the ball in the right places. That birdie on the eighth was a real bonus because I wasn’t taking all the chances that came my way, and then to make a 15-footer for birdie there was very pleasing.”

Behind him, Ahlers finds himself in contention going into a final round for his second tournament in succession. His 74 in the final round of the recent Dimension Data Pro-Am to relinquish his shot at that title will no doubt still rankle with him, and Friday’s final round offers the perfect chance to make amends. – Michael Vlismas

Photo: Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour

Alex Haindl took another major step forward in his comeback from injury as he opened with a five-under-par 67 to lead the first round of the Sunshine Tour’s SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun City at the Gary Player Country Club on Wednesday.

Haindl, who is currently playing on a medical exemption for a back injury, leads by two shots over Jaco van Zyl and Luke Jerling following their rounds of 69.

Teeing off the first, Haindl birdied two of his first three holes. He turned at one under after a bogey on the difficult eighth, but he claimed that shot back with a birdie on the 10^th. And then he closed with three birdies in his last five holes.

Haindl is hunting his first Sunshine Tour title since 2018 and the fourth of his career. A solid opening round on the challenging Gary Player Country Club course is exactly what he would’ve hoped for as he continues to work his way back from back surgery.

“I had a dynamic fusion in my back in 2015, but unfortunately that failed at the end of 2018 when I was having a really good year. It just collapsed and the screws literally came loose in my back. Then they had to fuse my back. So I’ve been working on strengthening it ever since,” he said.

All of which makes such a good start on the Gary Player Country Club course all the more rewarding.

“It’s nice to get off to a bit of a better start. I just tried to stay in play off the tees and take whatever I could from there. This course is a real grind. To be honest, this has never been a course I’ve felt suits my game because I’ve never felt I’m really long enough. But I had a nice round today and that builds a bit of confidence. I felt like I kept it in play nicely. So hopefully I can stick to my gameplan and hopefully that leads to another two good rounds.”

Van Zyl’s opening round was highlighted by him holing out with his second on the par-four first hole, which played as his 10^th hole of the day.

Zambia’s Madalitso Muthiya is currently fourth following an opening two-under-par 70. – Michael Vlismas

Photo: Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour

The Sunshine Tour resumes its schedule this week, and with that Neil Schietekat will resume his quest for a victory that seems imminent when he tees it up in the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun City starting on Wednesday.

After a brief break following the South African Swing of tournaments co-sanctioned with the European Challenge Tour, the famed Gary Player Country Club welcomes the Tour for the first time since Christiaan Bezuidenhout won the South African Open here in December 2020.

Schietekat returns as the 2018 winner of the SunBet Challenge. It was a triumph that ended a five-year drought between his first victory on the Sunshine Tour and his second.

And he is back at the Gary Player Country Club this week in arguably the best form of his career. The hard work he has been doing with coach Grant Veenstra has led to an incredible level of consistency in his game, with Schietekat having finished in the top 10 in five of his last six tournaments. This includes two third-place finishes.

That stretch of great form actually saw him climb 129 places on the world rankings to 233^rd by the end of those five tournaments.

But what he’ll feel is missing is a victory. He came close when he challenged for the Gauteng Championship presented by Betway at Ebotse in March, but a double-bogey seven on the final hole cost him a title that went to Jbe’ Kruger as Schietekat finished third.

Schietekat will certainly relish bringing his current form to the Gary Player Country Club. Since the SunBet Challenge moved from the neighbouring Lost City Golf Course to the Gary Player Country Club in 2016, Schietekat has had a win and finishes of sixth and 16^th in this tournament.

Apart from Schietekat, the field this week includes another two former champions in Adilson da Silva, who won this event in 2013 when it was played at the Lost City Golf Course, and Keith Horne, the winner in 2015 and also at the Lost City Golf Course. – Michael Vlismas

Photo: Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour

Oosthuizen praises Mickelson despite disappointment new

Louis Oosthuizen admitted his disappointment at yet another runner-up finish in a Major, but paid tribute to the historic PGA Championship victory of Phil Mickelson.

Speaking to the media after his final round of 73 on Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course on Sunday, Oosthuizen said he is fighting hard to win the second Major of his career but that his game was just not where he wanted it to be as he finished on four under par and two strokes behind Mickelson.

“Look, I feel like I’m playing my heart out to get a second Major, and I do know I have the game to do it. This was close. My game wasn’t great on the weekend. It was better today than yesterday. So I just need to work harder on it to get myself in contention again.”

This is Oosthuizen’s second runner-up finish in the PGA Championship, the other coming in 2017. He currently owns his own “Grand Slam” of runner-up finishes in the Majors after finishing second in the Masters in 2012, second in the US Open in 2015, second in The Open in 2015, and now twice second in the PGA Championship.

“You know, another second place, I’ve got to take it. But I feel like I could have probably got two or three more shots out of my game. It was a slow start, but I felt I hit decent iron shots. I stroked it really nice today and just didn’t make anything. Every single putt I hit finished right behind the hole, so it was frustrating with that.”

But Oosthuizen was full of praise for what Mickelson achieved in becoming the oldest winner of a Major at the age of 50.

“It was like the Phil that I remember watching just when I turned pro and it was great to see. I mean, what an achievement to win a Major at 50 years old, and he deserves all of that. It was not easy with the wind, and you know, he kept calm. That’s unbelievable and great stuff.”

Christiaan Bezuidenhout finished as the next best South African in the field on two over par following a closing 77. Branden Grace finished with a 78 for a total of three over par, while Daniel van Tonder ended the week on four over with a closing 73.

Dean Burmester finished on seven over with a 73, and Garrick Higgo signed for a solid final round of 69 for a total of eight over par.

Photo: Getty Images

Shaun Norris claimed his fifth victory on the Japan Golf Tour when he won a three-way playoff for the Golf Partner Pro-Am at the Toride Kokusai Golf Club on Sunday.

Norris beat Zimbabwean Scott Vincent and Tomohiro Otsuki on the second hole of the playoff.

It was a week of incredible golf for Norris, who opened with a 60 and then signed for a final round of 63 to tie for the lead on 21 under par.

As he explained to his Japanese audience, “This pro-am format may be new to the Japan Golf Tour, but in my home country on the Sunshine Tour we play the majority of our tournaments in this format, so I am used to it.”

Norris said the victory is a timely one as he seeks to win more titles this year.

“I wasn’t able to come to the Japan Golf Tour last year so I am way down on the money list , but I will fight on hard to catch up. I want to win at least two more tournaments this season.”

Louis Oosthuizen is two shots off the lead going into the final round of the PGA Championship as he chases his second Major title.

Despite what he said was a day of poor golf by his high standards, Oosthuizen signed for a level-par 72 to finish 54 holes on five under par overall.

Phil Mickelson managed to extend his lead to seven under par with a third round of 70, and he leads by one stroke over second-placed Brooks Koepka, who also signed for a 70.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Branden Grace are still both in the top five on three under par following respective third rounds of 72.

Oosthuizen is certainly well placed going into the final round, and despite feeling that he wasn’t at his best on Saturday.

“That was probably the worst I’ve played in a while,” he said. “Especially the first 10 holes going along with Phil hitting it beautifully and playing great, I was all over the place. I could sense early on that I wasn’t on song, especially I felt a move in my driver that I didn’t like, and from there it wasn’t good.

“So I was just sort of fighting to stay in it, and you know, at the end there, I started judging the greens wrong and everything just fell apart. All in all, two behind going into Sunday, I’ve got to take a lot of positives out of that with the way I was playing today. I think anyone within four or five shots is still in for a good shot.”

But Mickelson will certainly prove to be hard to catch with the kind of mindset he currently has and with the chance to make history as the first golfer to win a Major after turning 50.

“I believe that I’m playing really well and I have an opportunity to contend for a Major championship on Sunday, and I’m having so much fun,” he said.

Of the other South Africans in the field, Daniel van Tonder signed for a third round of 74 to go into the final day on three over par. Dean Burmester also posted a 74 to put him on six over par, while Garrick Higgo carded a 78 to finish the day on 11 over par.

Louis Oosthuizen is tied for the lead going into the weekend of a PGA Championship where both Branden Grace and Christiaan Bezuidenhout are also challenging in the top five at Kiawah Island.

Oosthuizen leads a strong South African challenge looking to win the country’s first Major since 2012.

He posted a 68 on the Ocean Course on Friday to come through 36 holes tied with Phil Mickelson on five under par. They are one stroke clear of Brooks Koepka. But Oosthuizen has plenty of South African support two shots back, with Grace and Bezuidenhout signing for respective rounds of 71 and 70 to place them on three under par.

“It’s great,” said Oosthuizen. “We’re 11 South African players here this week. We have a great programme with youngsters coming through, and it’s great seeing them up there. I watched a bit this morning and seeing Branden and Christiaan at this stage being 1 and 2, they’re good friends and great players, and they’ll definitely be up there this weekend.”

Oosthuizen is looking to win the second Major of his career after a number of near misses.

“Look, it’ll be great to get a second Major. In two of them I was really close, I was in playoffs. I don’t think it’s a case of not being able to or thinking that I can’t get the second. It’s just both times I was outplayed. There’s a lot of golf left, and I just feel whenever I get to a Major, I sort of have my game where I want to have it, and mentally I feel very strong at a Major week.

“I mean, look, anyone playing last group or second to last group, you’ll be a little nervous. But I know that, and I know how to deal with it or know what I have to do. I am definitely more comfortable playing in Majors now than before. Hitting it well and knowing your game is there, it makes it a little less stress, but you still need to hit the shots and play in the moment and play well.”

Behind him, Grace is relishing being in contention.

“I’m exactly where anybody would want to be going into the weekend. I believe that I should be out here. I believe that I should be a top 30 player in the world, and I believe I should win. This is where I want to play. I’ve contended in these big events before. There’s no reason why I can’t contend in them now, especially around a golf course like this.”

And Bezuidenhout is equally confident going into the weekend of a Major that forms a big part of his plans to secure a PGA Tour card.

“I’m obviously still playing in the top-50 category out here, and I’ve got five more tournaments left, which I feel like I can get my card out here and then come and play full-time. It’s always nice to be in the top 5 heading into the weekend.”

Daniel van Tonder, Dean Burmester and Garrick Higgo are the other South Africans who made the cut for the weekend. Van Tonder starts Saturday’s third round on one over par, with Burmester at four over and Higgo right on the cut mark of five over par.

Dylan Frittelli, Erik van Rooyen, George Coetzee, Charl Schwartzel and Brandon Stone all missed the cut.

Branden Grace led the South African challenge on a tough opening day of the PGA Championship at a windy Ocean Course on Kiawah Island.

Grace’s opening two-under-par 70 made him one of only 15 players to shoot 70 or better on day one, and it puts him three strokes off the lead of Canadian Corey Connors.

On the longest golf course in Major championship history, even the big-hitting Bryson DeChambeau had to concede defeat as the wind dominated the field.

“Yeah, it was not easy out there…Mentally you have to show a lot of resolve…Getting to 4-over is really nothing out here…It’s diabolical. This is the most difficult golf course that I’ve played on Tour, and that is a straight-up fact for me,” he said after his first round of level-par 72.

Fellow South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Christiaan Bezuidenhout finished the day one shot behind Grace with rounds of 71.

Erik van Rooyen opened with a level-par 72, while Dylan Frittelli and Garrick Higgo, playing in his first Major, signed for rounds of 73. Dean Burmester began his challenge with a round of two-over 74.

The other South Africans in the field will have their work cut out for them in Friday’s second round as they look to make it through to the weekend.

George Coetzee and Daniel van Tonder will start the second day on three over after their rounds of 75, while Charl Schwartzel will be looking to fight his way back from an opening 76, and Brandon Stone will be doing the same after a 78.

A total of 11 South Africans will tee it up in this week’s PGA Championship at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course, and with many of them in top form going into the second Major of the year.

Garrick Higgo makes his Major Championship debut as arguably the hottest golfer on the planet following the 22-year-old’s recent European Tour triumphs in both the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open and the Canary Island’s Championship, where he set several records in the process.

Dean Burmester makes his PGA Championship debut shortly after claiming his second European Tour title by a crushing five strokes in the Tenerife Open this month.

George Coetzee returns to a Major where he had his best finish at this level of the game with tied seventh in the 2015 PGA Championship, and Erik van Rooyen also had his best Major finish in the PGA Championship when he ended tied eighth in 2019.

Branden Grace is back at a Major where he finished third in 2015 and tied fourth in 2016, and having won his second PGA Tour title this February in the Puerto Rico Open.

Charl Schwartzel is rediscovering his form and heads into this week off the back of a tied third-place finish in the PGA Tour’s AT&T Byron Nelson last week.

Brandon Stone won again on the European Challenge Tour’s South African Swing last month, and Daniel van Tonder makes his Major debut after being granted an invitation by the PGA of America to participate this week and following his breakthrough victory on the European Tour in the Kenyan Savannah Classic in March.

Louis Oosthuizen will lead the South Africans as the highest ranked in the field at 31^stin the world followed by Christiaan Bezuidenhout at number 41. Dylan Frittelli completes the 10 South Africans who are currently within the top 100 on the world ranking.

Chris Williams gave himself the perfect preparation for the upcoming US Senior PGA Championship at the end of May when he won the Nelson Mandela Bay Classic by a single stroke on the Sunshine Senior Tour at Humewood Golf Club on Thursday.

Williams closed with a round of 69 to win on three-under-par 213. He finished one stroke clear of Neil Cheetham who signed for a final round of 71. André Cruse, who battled Williams for the lead on the back nine, finished third on one-under 215 after a 71.

The timing of the victory couldn’t have been better for Williams. At the end of this month both he and James Kingston will travel to Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to play in the US Senior PGA Championship.

“It’s nice to have won like this just before you leave for a Major like that,” said Williams, who recently finished second to Kingston in the South African Senior Open.

“I won a small senior event at the beginning of the year. But this is my first big one since winning the South African Senior Open a couple of years ago. I haven’t hit the ball as well as I did for a long time. I’ve put new shafts in my irons and I was knocking the flagsticks out. And it was also great to beat such a quality field,” he said of a field that included several former Sunshine Tour campaigners who have recently joined the Sunshine Senior Tour ranks.

“We’ve got a lot of former Sunshine Tour players on the Sunshine Senior Tour now and the standard is very high. Then you look at the quality of golfers who are just about to become seniors, like a Keith Horne and an Adilson da Silva, and you realise we’re going to have a very competitive Sunshine Senior Tour in the future with so many star players coming through.” – Michael Vlismas

Photo: Michael Sheehan