This week at Valderrama, they pulled four of their players together from four different continents to try and break a Guinness World Record for the fastest golf hole played. The record had been just a tick under 28 seconds. This was not the European Tour’s first rodeo for this speed stunt, and they’ve done this four-man relay at Valderrama before pitting two different countries against each other.

The foursome this week included Sean Crocker of the United States, Min Woo Lee of Australia, Wilco Nienaber of South Africa, and Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark. Nienaber, who may be the biggest hitting pro out there, sensibly took the driving duties, while the expletive-prone American, Crocker, hit the approach shots. It took many arduous reps and prompted many groans and curse words, but these world-class pros started to get the hang of it. After a few close calls, they shattered the old record.

27.88 seconds to beat

The Fastest Hole of Golf returns.#HeroChallenge | @GWR pic.twitter.com/8H5AsEsdx1

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) October 16, 2021

Nienaber’s length is certainly an advantage, but the fulcrum of this operation rests with the approach shot. It’s got to be stuffed and Crocker, who was hitting wedges with some spin that elongated the process, converted.

Is this the most important accomplishment? No. Do you wonder at least once why this exists? Yes. But it makes for an entertaining watch and it’s certainly a feat that you and three of your hack friends could not pull off at your local spot.

The post European Tour pros shatter world record for fastest hole played appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
RIDGELAND, S.C.—Not all 190 mph ball speeds are created equal. Bryson DeChambeau can get there, but it requires a truckload of effort—starting with a whole-body transformation fueled by protein shakes, weight training and living-room speed sessions. Blasting ACDC also helps the cause.

Then comes the actual golf shot. When The Big Golfer decides he wants to properly unload on one, his mannerisms turn body builder-esque. He hastens his breathing. Starts to twitch. He whispers sweet nothings to himself as he pulsates his driver up and down. Prepare for liftoff. He then brings the club back past parallel, loads up on his right foot, brings his left off the ground, unloads every ounce of force he has into that poor golf ball, spins out with his lower body, grunts, and needs some impromptu footwork to retain his balance as he admires his work.

It is impressive, for sure, but also laboured. Which makes watching Wilco Nienaber, born April 2000, downright jaw-dropping.

The 21-year-old from South Africa, who is playing in this week’s Palmetto Championship at Congaree, first made headlines during last November’s Joburg Open when he smashed a 439-yard drive that didn’t hit a cart path. There was no funny business involved, no noise, no wobbly-legs finish—just a hyper-athletic, super-wide golf swing from a 6-foot-2 young man with gangly arms, rapid hips and a preternatural gift for speed. His arms appear unburdened by whatever syrupy matter hinders the movement of other tour pros. They’re simply moving faster. And it’s all natural.

“It’s not something I’ve worked on, at all,” Nienaber said. “I can definitely get longer.”

The resulting ball flight is a different, too. Whereas DeChambeau plays a high draw—and Cameron Champ, another 190-pluser with easy speed, hits a low, spinny ball-—Nienaber games a mid-height cut that hardly seems to be spinning at all. If DeChambeau’s distance comes largely from carry, and Champ’s from roll, Nienaber’s gets both. It flies miles, it lands and then it rolls, and it rolls some more, once all the way to 439 yards.

Nienaber finished solo second that week in Joburg, his best-ever result as a pro until he won the Dimension Data Pro-Am last month. That victory propelled him to the top of the Sunshine Tour’s money list, good for a berth into next week’s U.S. Open.

Mike Ehrmann
Garrick Higgo and Wilco Nienaber walk from the 11th green during the third round of the Palmetto Championship.

Upon learning Nienaber had secured a tee time at Torrey Pines, Johann Rupert sprang into action. The South African billionaire, a golf fanatic who, according to The Scotsman, is the “driving force” behind the European Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, has supported both Nienaber and his playing partner Saturday, 22-year-old Garrick Higgo, since they were juniors. Rupert phoned his friend and fellow billionaire Dan Friedkin, co-founder of Congaree, and helped get both young players a sponsor’s invite into the Palmetto Championship.

Playing in his first-ever event on the PGA Tour, Nienaber posted back-to-back 68s to earn a Saturday afternoon tee time with HIggo, who he jockeyed with for the No. 1 junior ranking in South African junior golf not long ago.

“I don’t even watch where he hits it,” Higgo said after a 68 that has him inside the top five heading into Sunday. “I’m used to it.”

Asked if he ever hits it by his taller countryman, Higgo didn’t hesitate: “Maybe if he hits it off the hosel or something.”

Nienaber’s easy power also caught the eye of his fellow players who, unlike Higgo, were not familiar with Nienaber’s game. On Thursday, tour pro Roberto Castro took to Twitter to express his amazement.

“I played in front of this dude today,” he wrote, posting a screenshot of Nienaber’s 354-yard drive on the 11th hole. “This drive rolled 15 yards. No wind. I saw it land, had to get my yardage book out to see how far it flew. 340. Shotlink confirmed.”

And that was a short one. Relatively speaking, of course, but Nienaber averaged 361.1 yards over the first two days at Congaree, which had him on pace to challenge DeChambeau’s record for the longest average driving distance in a single event (363.1, during the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.) He hit five drives of 360 or longer on Friday alone.

On Saturday, perhaps feeling the nerves of being in semi-contention on the Big Tour for the first time, Nienaber was a bit of a foul-ball machine in shooting 74. Especially early. On the first, he smothered a quick hook into a waste bunker left. At No. 2, a block-fade into the water hazard down the right. He’s a 21-year-old kid ranked No. 143 in the world; this is far from a finished product.

It’s what he did at the next hole that’ll send a shiver down the spine of those clamouring for an equipment rollback.

The third hole at Congaree is a par 4 that measures 367 yards. With the South Carolina heat and Congaree’s firm turf, it’s been drivable all week. Nienaber opted for driver and unleashed a three-yard cut—that’s his stock shot—that landed just short of the front edge and bounded through, a good 20 yards over the green. ShotLink pegged it at 385 yards.

It was a breathtaking display of power, and, short of any rule changes, a glimpse into the future of the professional game.

Nienaber first hit balls on a launch monitor at the 2018 British Amateur. “The rep could not believe what he saw,” Nienaber said. “I had no idea what good numbers were. From that day, I learned a bit more.” Today’s 13-year-olds know what good numbers are, for launch monitors have been an ever-present prop in their golfing journeys. They also have more statistics and data available to them than ever before, course management systems that help them choose mathematically optimized targets and clubs. The influx of information tells a very clear story: Distance is king. The closer to the hole, the better. It’s why Bryson bulked up.

Courses have had to respond. Congaree was in a better position than most, seeing as it opened just three years ago. Tom Fazio designed the place with today’s distances in mind. As such, it measures 7,600 yards and is a par-71 this week … and it’s not playing long for these guys, at all. Just around five years ago, 120-mph clubhead speed and 180-mph ball speed stood as the unofficial benchmark for “long” on the PGA Tour. Nienaber cruises above those with his 5-wood, which he comfortably flies 305 yards. He doesn’t carry a 3-wood because, well, it would go too far. On Saturday, he touched 132-mph clubhead speed and topped out at 199-mph ball speed

And he’s only getting longer. His body’s still developing, and he’s entrusted his physical conditioning to Dr. Steve McGregor, who worked with Rory McIlroy for years and still sees Lee Westwood, who’s doing just fine as 48. Nienaber’s sinewy build is an interesting contrast with Bryson’s bulk, and DeChambeau frequently cites his lack of height as the main roadblock to adding even more speed. Taller men mean longer arms, which serve as longer levers to generate whip.

“I think as time goes on, there’s not much more to gain from the technology side of golf club manufacturing, building,” DeChambeau said ahead of the Masters. “There are little things we can do, but where the massive gains will be is in athletes. Once you get somebody out here that’s a 7-foot-tall human being and they are able to swing a golf club at 145 miles an hour effortlessly, that’s when things get a little interesting.”

Golf statistician Lou Stagner posted a fascinating graph to Twitter recently that showed the percentage of starts on the PGA Tour by players 6-foot-2 or taller. Back in the early 2000s, the number hovered just under 20 percent; there’s been a huge uptick over the last two years, and 29.1 percent of starts on tour this season have come from players Nienaber’s height or taller.

As the money at stake keeps increasing—hello, PGL and SGL—more top-level tall athletes will gravitate toward golf. Back in April, 6-foot-8 Jordan Hahn became the tallest player to ever tee it up in a PGA Tour event. Tommy Morrison, a junior committed to playing at Texas, stands 6-foot-9. Nienaber may well be the longest player in next week’s U.S. Open, but the 30,000-foot view suggests he’s but the next in a long line of taller and longer players. Hate it or love it, it’s the truth.

The post Why 21-year-old bomber Wilco Nienaber is a glimpse into golf’s future appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The big-hitting South African teen has been confirmed for the $3.25 million OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic alongside reigning European Tour Rookie of the Year Sami Välimäki and four other first time winners from 2020: Robert MacIntyre, Romain Langasque, Min Woo Lee and Rasmus Højgaard.

Why should you care? Take a wee peak at this video from November’s Joburg Open:

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

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

Sure, Randpark G.C. is more than 5000 feet above sea level but a 439-yard NUKE on a 597-yard par 5… sheesh.

It will be a marvel to see how the 19-year-old attacks the Majlis layout at Emirates Golf Club where DeChambeau, not yet at his bulky best, won with a record 24-under-par (264) total, low final round (64) and record winning margin – seven shots over Matt Wallace – in 2019.

“Last year went beyond my expectations and I can’t wait to see what 2021 has in store,” said Nienaber who went on to finish runner-up in Joburg after a 4th place finish at the English Championship after receiving a last-minute place in the field as an alternate.

“I’m really excited about being able to tee it up in events like the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic for the first time, hopefully I’ll be able to play my best and write my name alongside some of the game’s greatest players who have won this famous event.”

RELATED: Ten Major champs poised for OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic

Nienaber, 46th in last season’s Race to Dubai standings, will hope to emulate illustrious compatriot Ernie Els by winning his maiden European Tour title at Emirates Golf Club from Jan. 28-31.

The ‘Major of the Middle East’ boasts a roll call of champions including Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros and Colin Montgomerie and is also breeding ground for upcoming talent, with Els (1994) and Rory McIlroy (2009) breaking through on the Majlis.

2020 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie-of-the-Year Sami Välimäki

Välimäki’s ascent, meanwhile, has been rapid. After earning his European Tour card through Q-School in November 2019, he won on his sixth start on Tour at last year’s Oman Open and went on to finish 11th in the Race to Dubai.

Earlier this month he was named the ‘Breakthrough Athlete of the Year’ at the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year awards.

“Last season I achieved the main goal I had, which was to win and get a better category on Tour, and now I can’t wait to make my OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic debut this year,” said the 22-year-old from Finland.

“To be able to progress to this point after only turning professional in 2019 is something I’m very proud of and I want to keep going and keep improving. I know this is an important event in the world of golf when you look at some of the past winners and it would be amazing to join them.”

RELATED: Henrik Stenson headlines past winners set to help mark UAE Golden Jubilee at Desert Classic

MacIntyre was named the 2019 Rookie of the Year after he had three runner-up finishes and he broke through late on in 2020 with victory at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown. Now the 24-year-old is ready to kick-on and underline his status as one of Europe’s rising stars.

Bob MacIntyre

“I finished eighth in my OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic debut last year and felt good on the Majlis course throughout the week,” said the left-hander from Scotland.

“As a whole, last year was up-and-down for me on the golf course, but I’m looking forward to a clean slate this year and hopefully making some more progress – and this will be a great test against a world-class field and I’m excited to return.”

Højgaard was one of the in-form players when the Tour resumed after the initial halt to the 2020 season to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The young Dane posted four top-10s in succession during the UK Swing last summer, ending that run with his second victory of the campaign at the ISPS Handa UK Championship.

“My debut at the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic last year didn’t quite go as planned as I missed the cut but I enjoyed the tournament and the experience,” said Højgaard, 19, who was born a week after his compatriot Thomas Bjørn won the 2001 Dubai Desert Classic.

Rasmus Højgaard

“The golf course was hard but playable and now I know what to expect when I return so I’m looking forward to getting back there again.”

Australia’s Lee sealed his first victory on home soil at last year’s ISPS Handa Vic Open and he will be hoping to follow in his elder sister’s footsteps as a winner in Dubai after Minjee won the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic in November.

Min Woo Lee will look to emulate his sister as an Emirates Golf Club champion

“Watching Minjee win in Dubai last year was special and I can’t wait to get out there and try and emulate her,” said Lee. “It felt great to get my first win early in the year and I’m feeling good about the new season and making my debut in the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic.”

Frenchman Langasque, who clinched the prestigious Amateur Championship at Carnoustie in 2015, won his first European Tour title with two-stroke win over Välimäki at the ISPS Handa Wales Open at Celtic Manor last August. Prior to the victory, the 25-year-old has posted nine top tens on Tour including a runner-up finish at the 2019 South African Open.

Romain Langasque

An elite field has been assembled for this year’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic, with a host of Major champions and Ryder Cup stars including Collin Morikawa, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Tommy Fleetwood and Ian Poulter all set to mix it with the stars of tomorrow.

In what is the 32nd staging of the tournament, attendance will be for invited guests only but the action will be beamed to a worldwide audience on mainstream broadcast sports networks, and highlights and exclusive content will be shared on the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic social media channels.

RELATED: Paul Casey set for Majlis return as second wave of Desert Classic player confirmations unveiled

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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.

The post European Tour pro hits ‘borderline obscene’ 439-yard NUKE at the Joburg Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.