Fleetwood holds off Fox to win at Sun City
‘YOU DRAW ON THE GOOD MEMORIES THAT YOU HAVE CREATED SOMEWHERE YOU’VE WON. I FELT GOOD ALL DAY’
England’s Tommy Fleetwood shot a five-under-par 67 in the last round to retain the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club on Sunday, holding off an intense challenge down the back nine from Ryan Fox and Shubhankar Sharma.
Fleetwood finished with a four-round total of 277 to edge Fox by one shot after the New Zealander bogeyed the last hole, with India’s Sharma a further shot back in third place.
Overnight leaders Rasmus Hojgaard and Thomas Detry faded after a rain interruption midway through the round.
“It was such a lovely feeling coming down the back nine with a chance,” said Fleetwood, who also lifted the trophy in 2019.
“You draw on the good memories that you have created somewhere you’ve won. I felt good all day.”
The 31-year-old Fleetwood holed an eagle from the bunker on the 14th to pull level with Fox and Sharma and set up an absorbing final four holes at the Sun City resort.
“It wasn’t the best lie but I felt okay,” said Fleetwood.
“It wasn’t a terrible place to be. I don’t know how far it would have gone past but it came out lovely and went in. That spark, those kind of things, happen.”
Sharma’s challenge ended with bogeys at 16 and 17, and when Fleetwood tapped in for par at the last, after almost sinking a huge birdie attempt, Fox paid for a poor tee shot and posted his only bogey of the day at the worst possible moment.
It denied Fox, 35, a chance to go top of the tour rankings before the seasonending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next week.
It was Fleetwood’s first win in three years since taking the last Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted before the Covid-19 pandemic.
NEDBANK CHALLENGE SCORES
Leading final-round scores from the DP World Tour’s Nedbank golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa, yesterday (par 72; GBR & IRL unless stated): 277 - Tommy Fleetwood 70-70-70-67
278 - Ryan Fox (NZL) 64-74-72-68
279 - Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 72-6969-69
280 - Richie Ramsay 69-71-71-69
281 - Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA) 73-68-68-72, Sebastian Soderberg (SWE) 71-71-72-67
282 - Gavin Green (USA) 72-65-75-70
283 - Richard Bland 68-68-75-72, Branden Grace (RSA) 70-67-71-75, Rasmus Hojgaard (DEN) 69-69-69-76, Maximilian Kieffer (GER) 70-72-69-72, Min Woo Lee (AUS) 68-76-70-69
ALLISEN CORPUZ HOLDS ONE-SHOT
LEAD AT PELICAN EVENT Allisen Corpuz shot her second straight 5-under 65 on Saturday and holds a one-shot lead at 10-under 130 after two rounds of the Pelican Women’s Championship at Belleair, Fla.
Sweden’s Maja Stark fired a 63 and is tied for second with Lexi Thompson (67) and Mexico’s Maria Fassi (69).
Defending champion Nelly Korda (66) and Spain’s Carlota Ciganda (68) are two shots back in a tie for fifth.
The tournament was shortened from 72 to 54 holes after Tropical Storm Nicole forced Pelican golf Club to stay closed Thursday. Corpuz, 24, had six birdies and one bogey on Saturday. Three of the birdies came over the last five holes and helped her hold the lead heading into the final round.
“I think it’s always really good to see yourself up there,” said Corpuz, a twotime All-American at Southern California. “I mean, really just had a good year so far and kind of want to end the season on a good note. Trying to put myself in position for (Sunday), and, yeah really happy that I can be where I am.”
Stark carded eight birdies and one bogey and also finished strong, making three birdies over the final four holes.
“I think just the putter was a lot better today than it was yesterday,” Stark said. “I feel like I played kind of the same, managed to get a couple of really close wedges, and then, yeah, I think that was it. Didn’t mess up as much as usual.”