By Ryan Herrington
This week’s debut event on the rebranded DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) was troubled by two uncontrollable factors, one serious, one just unlucky, that forced the tournament to be called after 36 holes. Tour officials at the Joburg Open scrambled to address the issue of getting non-South African golfers in the field home before travel restrictions locked down the country in the wake of the new Omicron COVID variant, reducing the tournament to 54 holes on Friday. And when bad weather arrived Saturday during the new final round, the tour knew there was no time to wait things out, lopping off another 18 holes and declaring a winner.

That winner, South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, was among the few involved with the tournament who could say he was in the right place at the right time. The 24-year-old member of the Sunshine Tour (which was co-sanctioning the tournament at Randpark Golf Club) had played in 21 DP World events in his career, his best finish a T-17 in 2019. He was coming off a sixth-place showing in his last start last month in South Africa, but prior to that had missed the cut in his four previous starts dating back to August, falling as low as 555th in the World Ranking.

A pair of seven-under 65s in this opening two rounds, however, gave Lawrence a four-stroke lead over countryman Xander Lombard that eventually secured the title. And said title, with its full membership on the tour and a spot into the 2022 Open Championship, quickly had an emotional impact on Lawrence.

“This changes everything. It’s life changing,” he said afterwards. “This is the first stepping stone to get to my bigger dreams. From a young age I’ve always wanted to win on the DP World Tour. And now this gives me an opportunity to get to the PGA Tour quicker. I wasn’t sure where I was going to play this year, and I really wanted to move onto the next step.”

There is some irony in how COVID influenced the outcome of this tournament and how it had been an issue in Lawrence’s development the previous two years. Playing smaller tours with no qualifying schools being held and little ability to move up in the pecking order in pro golf had made for trying times for players like Lawrence.

“The last two years with COVID-19 have been tough, and you see your dreams fade,” he said. “For it to change this week is unbelievable.”

Lawrence lamented briefly that the win came as it did, over just 36 holes and with unusual circumstances. Yet he was encouraged by the level of his play and the belief that he could have sustained it two more rounds if need be.

“I played unbelievable golf over the past two days,” he said. “I would’ve liked to have finished with a winning putt on 18, but it was out of my control. I went out there with a mentality to finish the tournament, but it turned out nicely for me and I’m just so happy.”

Hear from the #JoburgOpen champion ? pic.twitter.com/wYGt7Th5jE

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 27, 2021

The additional spoil of having wrapped up a place in the field at St. Andrews next July for the 150th Open Championship was another reason for Lawrence to rejoice.

“It’s a lifelong dream that’s come true,” he said. “To play your first ever major on the Old Course is an unbelievable dream come true. I’m so excited. As a kid you always want to play in the Majors. Everybody wants to break Jack Nicklaus’s record, and now it’s my first major and an opportunity in that direction. I’m ecstatic.”

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By Ryan Herrington
A trying situation continued for DP World Tour officials at the Joburg Open in South Africa when thunderstorms forced third-round play to be suspended on Saturday. With worsening weather coming and looming concerns over the new COVID variant surfacing in the country, officials decided to cancel the round entirely and called the tournament after 36 holes.

South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence was declared the winner after shooting a pair of 65s in the opening two rounds at Randpark G.C. in Johannesburg. The 24-year-old’s 12-under 130 total was four shots clear of countryman Zander Lombard, giving Lawrence his first victory on the former European Tour.

On Friday, tournament officials were scrambling to address the issues surrounding the new COVID variant, Omicron, that caused several countries to begin restricting travel from southern Africa. More than a dozen British and Irish players had withdrawn from the tournament in a race to get home before the restrictions took effect.

The tour eventually announced that it was reducing the tournament to 54 holes, with the third and final round to finish on Saturday, “to help non-South African resident players, caddies and tournament support staff return to their home countries. The decision was taken to help facilitate their safe return and give them an extra day to make travel arrangements.”

The next two DP World Tour events were also to be played in South Africa, and both have been pulled from the schedule. The South African Open, set for Dec. 2-5, currently will only be a Sunshine Tour event, and the Alfred Dunhill Championship (Dec. 9-12) had been canceled entirely.

Suffice it to say, it was an auspicious debut for the formerly named European Tour, which was being rebranded the DP World Tour and was playing its first tournament of the 2021-22 season. But for Lawrence, No. 503 in the World Ranking entering the week, this first win in just his 22nd career start on the tour was meaningful nonetheless.

“I’m shaking to be honest. It’s so surreal,” Lawrence said. “I don’t think anybody thought it would turn out this way. I’m so thankful. It’s a life changing moment for me.”

The Joburg Open was also serving as a qualifier for the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews. The top three finishers who weren’t already qualified for next July’s major earned spots into the field, with Lawrence, Lombard and England’s Ashley Chesters (tied for third) receiving the bids.

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By John Huggan
Ironically, both of what proved to be the decisive moments in the final round of the Joburg Open on Sunday were shots that flew too far.

Three days after hitting the drive that echoed around the world of golf—a 439-yard bomb off the tee at the 597-yard par-5 fourth hole on the Randpark course during the opening round of the European Tour event—Wilco Nienaber arrived on the penultimate tee tied for the lead with Joachim B. Hansen. Unfortunately for Nienaber, a 20-year-old South African, that was as good as things would get. His tee shot on the 223-yard par-3 17th finished inches from the water that runs behind and left of the putting surface. A bogey, his first of the day, was the almost inevitable result from the awkward spot, the dropped shot putting Hansen one shot clear.

Perhaps fueled by adrenaline, Nienaber—statistically the longest hitter on tour with a driving average of 336.81 yards—found a fairway bunker with an iron off the 18th tee. Unable to reach the green in regulation at the 507-yard par 4, he again failed to match Hansen’s up-and-down par. Thus, the winning margin was two shots for Hansen, a 30-year-old Dane as he earned his maiden European Tour victory with a closing 67 and a 19-under-par 265 total.

For the record, another South African, Shaun Norris was third, three shots behind the new champion, with former Scottish and South African Open champion Brandon Stone among a three-strong group in fourth place.

“This is very emotional for me,” said a tearful Hansen, who had trailed by as many as three shots after Nienaber made three consecutive birdies on the front nine. “This is what I have worked so hard for. Wilco is quite a player. He hits the ball so far and has so many advantages. But I stuck to my game plan. All I could do was keep doing the things I had been doing for the first three days. And that proved to be good enough.”

There was special mention, too, for Hansen’s work on the greens. “I almost never missed a putt inside six feet,” he said at the end of what was only his 10th top-10 finish in 146 European Tour events. “And I holed a lot of long ones too.”

While Hansen’s success is a tribute to his perseverance, what this 19,500,000 ZAR event (approximately $1,271,886) will be most remembered for is that tee shot Nienaber hit on Thursday.

Wilco Nienaber’s 439 yard drive ?#JoburgOpen pic.twitter.com/AY6NNgPVUM

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 19, 2020

The former South African amateur champion’s gargantuan blast, one that finished almost exactly 99 yards past Bryson DeChambeau’s average tee shot on the PGA Tour, does, however, come with an asterisk. Sitting on the eastern plateau of South Africa known as the Highveld, Johannesburg is 5,751 feet above sea level, the thin air a hugely contributing factor in how far every shot travels.

The post The European Tour’s longest hitter is done in by distance in South Africa appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Normally, those of us who write on the internet for a living are the ones who have to use hyperbole in order to get people to click. In this case, a European Tour commentator did our job for us, and for that we owe him a great debt.

The thing is, there was nothing hyperbolic about what was said about this 439-yard NUKE by South Africa’s Wilco Nienaber at the Joburg Open. “Borderline obscene” and “offensive” were two phrases used to describe it. We bet Bryson DeChambeau reluctantly agrees given how effortless Nienaber’s swing was on the par-5 fourth at Randpark Golf Club’s Firethorn Course:

Wilco Nienaber’s 439 yard drive ?#JoburgOpen pic.twitter.com/AY6NNgPVUM

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 19, 2020

Great googly moogly. Simply put, the golf ball should not be allowed to go that far. Unfair.

Couple things to note: Randpark GC is over 5,000 feet above sea level, and the 597-yard par 5 plays a bit downhill. We’d also have to assume the wind was helping a hair (we know it wasn’t hurting). All this adds up to an absolute nuke from Nienaber. Hitting absolute nukes is kind of his thing:

The 1000-yard challenge.

Three balls. Total distance needs to be over 1,000 yards. First up, Wilco Nienaber. #1000YardChallenge pic.twitter.com/tR3qTSmOxR

— GOLFTV (@GOLFTV) November 19, 2020

Sheesh. To be a fly on the wall of Bryson’s brain when he watches guys like Nienaber or Cameron Champ send balls to the moon with half the effort and 70-80 less pounds on them. Has to be a bit maddening.

Nienaber, 20, made minced meat of the Firethorn Course on Thursday, shooting an eight-under 63 to grab a share of the first-round lead. The young South African already has a pair of top 10s on the European Tour in 2020, and we feel confident in saying there are many more to come.

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With the vast majority of the European Tour’s best already decamped to Florida, the qualifiers were likely to be journeymen at best. And so it proved.

Courtesy of his victory over the 54 holes that were possible between torrential downpours, including one that delayed play for two hours on the final day, Darren Fichardt of South Africa will tee it up at Royal Birkdale in July.

The 41-year-old from Pretoria was 15-under-par over the East and West courses at the Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club, one stroke better than Wales’ Stuart Manley and England’s Paul Waring, who also earned tickets to Birkdale.

It was Fichardt’s fifth European Tour win and his first since the 2013 Africa Open. After a bogey on the 17th hole Sunday, his clinching birdie on the par-5 18th—courtesy of a beautifully judged chip-and-run to 18 inches—broke a tie with his closest pursuers after Waring had lipped out a 15-foot birdie attempt.

Fichardt, whose previous best finish this season was T-26 at the South African Open, admitted feeling inordinately nervous over the last short putt.

“I haven’t tried that putter and grip under pressure before, so you don’t know how badly it could go,” he said, referring to changes he made at the start of the event.

“The form I have been having the last couple of months has been horrendous, but I decided at the beginning of the year that I was going to play as many tournaments as I can and just get my game right. And it worked out.”  – John Huggan

Editor’s note: Fichardt gained 187,697 points and made a stunning leap in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai standings, moving from 107th to 18^th position as he targets a return to the season-ending DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 16-19, for the first time since 2014.

Top 10 Race to Dubai Rankings after the Joburg Open

POSITION        NAME                                                                                                  COUNTRY                 POINTS

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