Tommy Fleetwood overcomes illness, makes repeat eagle to defend Nedbank Golf Challenge
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Published 13/11/2022 at 16:35 GMT
Tommy Fleetwood successfully defended his title at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, coming from behind to beat Ryan Fox by one shot. Officials at the Nedbank Golf Challenge deserve tremendous credit for completing 18 holes, as most of Friday was lost to rain and there was a substantial delay on Sunday as play was suspended due to lightning in the area.
‘I love competing’ - Fleetwood hungry for more success
History repeated itself in Sun City, as Tommy Fleetwood eagled the 14th hole in the final round to help him defend the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Fleetwood came from behind to win in 2019, the last time the event was held due to Covid-19 restrictions, and he repeated the feat on Sunday afternoon.
It did not feel like Sun City at times, as most of Friday was washed out and there was delay due to lightning on the final day's play.
When the action resumed, it boiled down to a battle between Fleetwood and Ryan Fox over the closing holes - as they and third man in the group, Shubhankar Sharma, broke away from the pack.
Fox and Fleetwood were tied together on the 18th tee, and it was the latter who made par - to Fox’s bogey - to secure the title for a second time.
"It has been a great week," Fleetwood said. "I have so many memories of this place, this has added to that. It was a lovely feeling.”
Final Leaderboard
- 1. Tommy Fleetwood, 11-under
- 2. Ryan Fox, 10-under
- 3. Shubhankar Sharma, nine-under
- 4. Richie Ramsay, eight-under
- T5. Sebastian Soderberg, seven-under
- T5. Christiaan Bezuidenhout, seven-under
Fleetwood played golf in the shadows for three days, and it was some achievement that he even arrived on the first tee on Thursday due to heat stroke and illness earlier in the week.
“If it wasn’t for the doctor here there was no chance I was teeing it up on Thursday,” Fleetwood said. “I gave him a hug and thanked him and gave his son the winning ball.
“I have to thank him so much as there was not a chance on Wednesday night that I was teeing it up on Thursday.”
Fleetwood did little right or wrong for the opening three rounds, and said on Saturday evening that he was finally starting to feel close to healthy again.
He started the day three back of the leaders and made a positive early move with birdies on three of his opening six holes.
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Fleetwood’s game has been trending up for a few months, having gone through a trough, and he is extremely comfortable playing sawn-off shots with all his irons.
After moving to the top of the leaderboard with a birdie on nine, he briefly dropped back with a bogey on 12.
But things turned his way on the 14th, as Fleetwood made eagle like he did in the final round in 2019. Eyebrows were raised when he went for the green from way back with his second shot, and sent it into the waste area.
The sand in waste areas is more compacted than standard bunkers, and precision is required.
Fleetwood found it, as he got hold of the ball perfectly, before it bounced once and dropped into the hole for an eagle.
Reflecting on the shot on 14, Fleetwood said: “It was a bit of a clay-y lie, but I felt OK.
“I am not sure how far past it would have gone if it had missed on the second bounce, but it came out lovely and went in and it’s that spark that happens every now and again when you walk through the door and you win. Sometimes it happens, other times it doesn’t.”
There was work to be done as the impressive Fox went on a run of birdies to get alongside Fleetwood with one to play.
Fleetwood, as he did so often all week, found the fairway. Fox is a mammoth hitter, but nerves must have kicked in as he borderline topped his tee shot and did not reach the fairway.
Fox was left miles back with his second and could only find the rough 40 yards short of the green.
Fleetwood found the green and his putt for the win missed by a whisker.
Fox had a shot at forcing a play-off, but could not get up and down and it enabled an emotional Fleetwood to celebrate - albeit without his family in attendance after they had to dash to the airport.
“One of my biggest goals for a while is to win with my whole family here,” Fleetwood said. “Frankie [his son] is saying all the time I never win anything, he brings medals home from school for me saying this is for you because you never win any.
“So I wanted to win with them here for such a long time. They come and disappear, as they are now at the airport as the kids have exams tomorrow.
“It has been a great week. I have so many memories of this place, this has added to that. It was a lovely feeling.”
Rory McIlroy would have had a keen eye on proceedings, and he will head into the DP World Tour Championship at the top of the rankings as Fox needed a win to dislodge him.
Rasmus Hojgaard and Thomas Detry began the day at the top of the leaderboard, but both fell away.
Detry has been playing sparkling golf for months, but has struggled to convert from promising positions and it happened again on Sunday.
His game was badly off-colour and eight bogeys saw him slip back to four-under after a round of 77.
It was a similar story for rising star Hojgaard. Earlier in the week, he made a series of clutch putts to ensure no momentum was lost.
On Sunday, the petrol ran empty on the greens and it impacted on the rest of his game. He made five bogeys and a double bogey after finding water with his approach to the ninth, and it saw him drop back to five-under after a round of 76.
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