By John Huggan
Even in golf, things can sometimes turn out just like you think they might. So it is that the two highest-ranked players in the field at the Steyn City Championship finished first and second. Perhaps the only mild surprise is that first-time DP World Tour winner Shaun Norris outpaced runner-up Dean Burmester, given that at 85th, the new champion was nine spots lower in the World Ranking. No matter, doubling down on the prevailing air of (near) predictability, the Club at Steyn City just outside Johannesburg produced a home winner. Since 2016, South Africans have won 48 percent of the DP World Tour events played in Africa.

The final margin of victory was three shots, one-stroke less than Norris’ overnight advantage over his countryman. But it was closer than that for long enough. In almost complete contrast to the opening three rounds in which he had dropped only one shot, Norris, 39, didn’t make a birdie until the 364-yard par-4 11th hole on the final day.

From there, normal service was resumed. Three birdies in the last five holes all but restored Norris’ initial four-shot edge, although he also needed some help from Burmester. A two-time DP World Tour winner, Burmester actually led by a shot with three holes to play, only to three-putt the 591-yard par-5 16th for par as a deflating prelude to a double-bogey 6 on the 420-yard 17th that all but ended his hopes of adding this to his victories at the 2017 Tshwane Open and last year’s Tenerife Open.

In the end, Norris closed with a 70 to give him a 25-under 263 total and earned him the €230,000 first prize. Burmester’s 69 saw him pull up three shots clear of the 2021 rookie of the year, Matti Schmid and yet another South African, Oliver Bekker.

“The birdie on the 11th was massive and gave me a boost at a time when Dean was playing so well,” said an emotional Norris, who had his brother on the bag and his wife and baby daughter in the crowd as he grabbed his first title in his 114th career DP World Tour start. “I’m not sure I can describe how I feel right now. After seven holes today things weren’t looking so good. But you have to expect that in golf. I was bogey-free the first two days and made only one in the third round. So I was maybe due a shaky spell. It had to come eventually. But I stayed patient, and everything fell into place.”

Warren Little
Norris and his brother celebrate on the 18th green at The Club at Steyn City outside Johannesburg.

A little lower on the leader board, good things were also happening for a couple of other competitors. The highly promising Schmid made a clutch birdie on the 515-yard par-4 18th to climb into that tie for third place and record his highest finish of the season. And, perhaps even more significantly, the massive hitter that is James Hart Du Preez played the last nine holes in four under par to haul himself into a tie for fifth place—easily his best showing on the DP World circuit. It’s a finish that will see him able to tee-up in next week’s Qatar Masters.

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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.

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By Kent Gray
If Brooks Koepka’s peers were secretly hoping the world No.1 would slowly ease his way back into competitive golf and leave them to scrap it out for the Falcon trophy this week, well, they should have known better.

A bogey-free 66 represented a fine return after three months out rehabbing his surgically repaired left knee. It left the 29-year-old American just two shots adrift of -8 pacesetters Renato Paratore and Shaun Norris and ominously poised at the 15th Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA. So much for ring rust.

“I’ve kind of known I’ve been hitting it really well, putting it really well for a couple of weeks,” said Koepka after his fastest start to the $7 million Rolex Series event after a 77 when he missed the cut here in 2014 and a 67 en-route to a T-9 finish last year.

“I think the first day I picked up the club, same thing. Felt like I hadn’t left. I’ve done it for years and years. You don’t forget how to swing the golf club.”

Apparently not. Koepka wasn’t flawless off the tee but managed to escape an awkward, partially (tree) impeded waste area lie at the first real hint of trouble on the 6th, his fourth to last hole after starting on 10. Throughout he relied on some silky touches around the greens, normally the last part of your game to return after such a lengthy spell on the sidelines, as he sauntered around the pristine National layout and up the front page of the leaderboard.

The World Number One’s opening round in 5 minutes ?#ADGolfChamps #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/uaKp6Icv2Z

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 16, 2020

The highlight was a chip-in birdie on the 17th, his 8th hole, from some gnarly rough beyond the green, before another gain from out of a greenside trap at the next to turn in four-under. A lengthy putt for another birdie on the 2nd, his 11th hole, also made the highlights reel.

“Yeah, solid. I like the way I’ve played,” he said. “Controlled distances. Controlled flights. Controlled spin. Everything. That’s exactly what you want to do. Felt good to be back out playing, just feeling the competition again. I’m pretty pleased with it.

“To chip one in there, I wasn’t expecting that, but my short game was really good. The strike was really good. I worked hard with Pete [Cowan] in trying to make sure that I know what I’m doing, and understand what I’m doing and can make it repeatable.”
Koepka clearly seems to have Abu Dhabi Golf Club, with its lengthened 11th and 16th holes, sussed even if his driver wasn’t fully co-operating.

“Some of these fairways are like 12 yards wide, so I’m not really expecting to hit them,” he said. “But when you know where the pins are at, you can kind of play the hole backwards and figure out if you can be aggressive off the tee and hit driver…sometimes it pays off to have that lob wedge, even when it’s in the rough, and other times you’ve just got to lay it back. You’ve got to understand the golf course and really how to play it.”

1st competitive round for 89 days.

No problem for the World Number 1 ?#ADGolfChamps #RolexSeries

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 16, 2020

As a statement of intent for the busy year ahead, Koepka’s opening round of 2020 was mightily impressive. Perhaps the only question mark now is how his knee pulls up overnight even if there were no concerns immediately after his opening gambit.
“I feel fine physically. I’m out of shape but…,” he said before being interrupted.

“You don’t look out of shape?”

“Well, it takes a little bit to get in golfing shape. You stand on the putting green for 30 minutes and putt and your back starts to ache. Just little things like that. But it will be fine. Only take a couple more weeks.”

It’s scary to think how he might play once he’s back up to full fitness.

“I’m excited and it will be nice to be able to practice again. I haven’t been able to practice; last year, I just couldn’t practice. It was too painful and wasn’t being able to do the things I wanted to do.

“I told my team in the last year, I was just going to really rededicate myself for the next five, six years, and we’ll see where we are. From there, you know, who knows, other things might be a priority.”

Who knows what Koepka’s record might eventually look like. One round doesn’t make a tournament, much less a season, but on the early evidence, don’t be surprised if 2020 Abu Dhabi champion is part of the legacy.

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Rounds of 64, both coincidentally blighted by bogeys on the par-3 7th, will see Paratore (pictured above) and Norris (inset) take a two stroke buffer into Friday at the $7 million Rolex Series event. It’s way too early for leaderboard watching but chances are neither will be able to avoid it the way Brooks Koepka returned to competitive golf on The National layout Thursday.

How to start a tournament, by @RenatoParatore #ADGolfChamps #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/pLFmvaIS4G

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 16, 2020

Koepka’s bogey-free 66, matched by Aussie Jason Scrivener, belied the three months he spent on the sidelines recuperating from surgery on his left knee. With four majors and a swag of other top flight wins, the 29-year-old American will clearly have no issue playing the role of hunter.

Both pacesetters at least bring form with them to Abu Dhabi Golf Club. Paratore was second at the Mauritius Open last month and the 23-year-old Italian knows how to win too, even if the world No. 267’s sole triumph came back at the 2017 Nordea Masters.

Shaun Norris plays his tee shot on the 17th hole during the first round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)

Norris is still searching for a maiden European Tour victory but the world No.59 is no journeyman, having claimed a pair of Asian Tour wins and two more on the Sunshine Tour – to go with six visits to Q-School. With a win, three seconds and seven top-five finishes in his last 14 starts, mostly in Japan, things are finally looking up.

Shaun Norris’ lowest career round on the European Tour #ADGolfChamps #RolexSeries

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 16, 2020

“It’s been a rough year last year after losing my father. But my brother is back on the bag again and feels like everything is working at moment,” said the 37-year-old South African. “We are having a lot of fun out there, and that’s the main thing. Really happy with what’s happening.

“Who wouldn’t want to win one of these events. To win one of the Rolex Series events to start off the year would be fantastic. I’ll stick to my game plan and just see what happens.”

Round 1 scores in Abu Dhabi ?#ADGolfChamps #RolexSeries

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 16, 2020

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