Frittelli coming of age as top star
GOOD CV: SA MAN WAS THE NCAA CHAMPION IN 2012 Now he tees up in his dream event at Sun City on Thursday.
The letters NCAA probably don’t mean that much to many South African sports fans, but they are highly significant in the world of golf. The National Collegiate Athletic Association run what is termed College Golf in the United States and it has been the stepping-stone for many great careers. To be an NCAA champion is a notable achievement and one of the South African debutants in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City this week has that honour behind his name.
Dylan Frittelli made a 30-foot winning putt on the 18th for the Texas Longhorns in 2012, a team that included Jordan Spieth, with Justin Thomas playing in the Alabama side that were their opposition in the final. The South African was considered a great talent back then, but it is only now that he is starting to deliver on his promise after a couple of tough years in 2014/15.
The Nedbank Golf Challenge is the penultimate event on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai and Frittelli comes to Sun City as the highest-ranked South African on that Order of Merit, in 18th place. The 27-year-old boosted his ranking considerably at the weekend with his thrilling second-place finish to Justin Rose in the lucrative Turkish Airlines Open.
Frittelli shot a 64 in the final round, including three chip-ins for birdie, and his excellent birdie on the 18th meant Rose had to make a fine birdie himself on the last hole to claim the title. The world No 6 was effusive in his praise of the South African.
Frittelli is delighted to have qualified now for the Nedbank Golf Challenge, a tournament he grew up watching, and is fully in favour of the changes in the format, which have given the Sun City event a crucial spot in the final stages of the Race to Dubai.
“It’s really exciting to be coming to Sun City, I watched a lot of the tournament as a kid on TV and it’s every South African golfer’s dream to play in it. There’s a big winner’s prize and all the exemptions that go with it.
“I’m looking forward to being back in South Africa on a course I know fairly well, having played there a few times in my junior and amateur days, and hopefully knowing the kikuyu grass and playing on the Highveld will give me a bit of an advantage.
“The changes are good, the old format didn’t provide any world ranking points and halfway through, there were only halfa-dozen golfers who could win. It’s a lot more competitive now and there are a lot more golfers to watch. It’s the way the game is going generally, the top guys only play 20 tournaments a year.
“We’re used to playing in fields of 156 or 130 golfers, so it’s still an elite field and a great opportunity for me to put my name with greats like Nick Price, Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman,” Frittelli said.