Tommy Fleetwood Wins Nedbank Golf Challenge After Playoff

England’s Tommy Fleetwood is the 2019 Nedbank Golf Challenge champion after the event went into a sudden-death playoff.

Tommy Fleetwood got the better of Marcus Kinhult on the first extra hole, as he sunk a five-foot putt for par to win his fourth European Tour title and his first in nearly two years.

The Englishman started the day six shots off the overnight leader Zander Lombard, but he was able to card a 65 on the final day, much better than anyone else could manage around the Gary Player Country Club course in Sun City.

The 2017 Race to Dubai champion had three eagles on his card on Sunday, including back-to-back 3s at the par-5 9th and 10th holes. Add to that four birdies and three bogeys, and he made the move from -5 to -12 in his final round of the week.

However, the man from Southport needed a bit of luck during his final round, as a sprinkler head set him up for a birdie at the 15th to push into the top spot.

Kinhult also made a move up the leaderboard, thanks to a final round of 68, which started with four birdies in his first six holes. A birdie on the 15th then put him level with Fleetwood, and three pars followed to set up the playoff.

Neither man was able to find the green in two in the playoff, but a magnificent flop shot from the Englishman set him up with the par putt that he would sink to win the tournament, and in doing so, he pushes himself up to 2nd on the Race to Dubai list ahead of the season finale next week.

He now sits in 2nd behind Bernd Wiesberger, who was part of the trio that finished in a tie for 3rd in Sun City this week. The Austrian, and Australia’s Jason Scrivener, both shot 70 on the final day to move up to -8, finishing four shots off the top.

Belgium’s Thomas Detry carded a two-over-par round of 74, but maintained his position inside the top three, where he has spent the entire week.

2018 Nedbank winner Lee Westwood and the man who carded the lowest round of the week, Louis Oosthuizen (1st round 63), both finished at -7 in a tie for 6th, while overnight leader Zander Lombard shot a five-over-par round of 77 to end his week in T8, alongside Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.

Finland’s Kalle Samooja, England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick and Dutchman Joost Luiten all finished in a tie for 10th at Gary Player CC.

It was a bad day for the likes of Nacho Elvira, Aaron Rai, and Joachim Hansen, who all carded over par rounds to drop out of the top ten, while Mikko Korhonen dropped from T6 to T24 after a seven-over-par round of 79.

England’s Oliver Wilson had possibly the worst Sunday of his career, as he carded an 82 to drop from a tie for 4th, all the way down to a tie for 30th. It was also another bad day for Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregard who went wire-to-wire at the wrong end of the field, as a final round 80 saw him finish at +23 for the week, 35 shots off the pace.

However, it was Tommy Fleetwood who made his move on Sunday to lift the title in South Africa, and to put himself in a great position to win a second Race to Dubai crown in three years come next Sunday at the DP World Tour Championship.

Leaderboard:

1 (-12, PLAYOFF WIN): Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)

2 (-12): Marcus Kinhult (SWE)

T3 (-8): Jason Scrivener (AUS), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Thomas Detry (BEL)

T6 (-7): Lee Westwood (ENG), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)

Selected Others:

T10 (-4): Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG), Joost Luiten (NED)

T13 (-3): Jorge Campillo (ESP), Tom Lewis (ENG), Aaron Rai (ENG)

T17 (-2): Henrik Stenson (SWE), Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP), Joachim Hansen (DEN)

20 (-1): Padraig Harrington (IRL)