“Honestly, winning wasn’t on the agenda at the start of the day”

Tommy Fleetwood played superbly to triumph at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, having trailed by six shots coming into the final round

How does it feel to be back in the winners’ circle on the European Tour?

It feels good. It’s emotional. It has been a long time coming.

I’m not one to complain, but I really did want to win something. Winning is just such a good feeling. Everybody puts a lot of hard work in week-in, week-out and you wait for your time to come. I’m probably impatient most of the time. But I feel happy and lucky that it was my time this time.

You started the day six shots behind and played brilliantly to shoot seven-under-par and force a play-off with Marcus Kinhult. What were you thinking as the round unfolded?

I got a bit of luck with the eagles. I didn’t realise we had that bit of luck on 15 [his ball hit a sprinkler head and bounced back on to the green]. It felt like I hit a great putt on 16 that just missed and I was proud of how I played the 17th and 18th when I was leading – they are tough holes.

As comebacks go, that was pretty special. Where does the round rank in your career?

Yeah, it was one of the best for sure. I would have liked to keep a couple of bogeys off the card, but I can’t fault the way I played, the way I hit it and the way I putted. Also, the way I handled myself emotionally and stayed in the present. And then the play-off, I got a bit lucky with the tee shot, my chip shot was probably a bit lucky as well and then I holed the putt. But it all goes together to make such an amazing day. Honestly, winning wasn’t on the agenda at the start of the day. It was just about putting a good round together and moving on to the next week.

This was your second Rolex Series win and it came with a first prize of $2.5million, the largest on the European Tour. Can you sum up how that feels?