Tommy Fleetwood produced a stunning birdie-birdie finish to hold off the challenge of Thriston Lawrence and Rory McIlroy and win the inaugural Dubai Invitational by one shot.

The Englishman entered the final day at Dubai Creek Resort with a one-shot lead and, with Ryder Cup teammate McIlroy his nearest challenger, a mouth-watering head-to-head was in store. Fleetwood was a picture of consistency, but he dropped out of the lead for the first time with a bogey on the 16th.

He was still one back on the 18th tee after he and McIlroy both birdied the penultimate hole, but as the Northern Irishman found the water and made a bogey, Fleetwood holed from 16 feet for a 67, a 19 under total and a seventh DP World Tour title. HIs first win since the 2022 Nedbank Golf Challenge also moved him to the top of the International Swing Rankings and to fourth in the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.

It was oh-so-close for Lawrence who finished alongside McIlroy on 18 under after shooting a superb bogey-free final round of seven-under-par 64. This included three birdies on the front nine and a vital birdie on the 17th which saw him take the lead before Fleetwood’s birdie on the 18th. The South African’s fine performance also saw him move up eight places to sixth in the Race to Dubai Rankings.

Lawrence’s compatriot and playing partner for the final round, Zander Lombard, finished in a share of sixth in the 60-man field after he started the round off strongly but was derailed by a double-bogey on the 14th.

DP WORLD TOUR/GETTY IMAGES/ALI HAIDER/EPA/BACKPAGEPIX

Toto Thimba Jnr returned to the Sunshine Tour winner’s circle in emphatic fashion when he claimed a wire-to-wire victory at the Altron Big Easy Tour’s eighth tournament at Dainfern Golf Estate in mid-January.

The Silver Lakes Country Club player last tasted victory on any Sunshine Tour-sanctioned event five years ago at the KCB Karen Masters in Kenya. Since then, he has shown glimpses of the brilliant golfer many touted him to be.

Bringing a three-stroke lead into the final round after rounds of 61 and 66, Thimba Jnr knew he had a chance for a win and his final-round six-under-par 66 was enough to hand him a two-shot victory over Ruan de Smidt.

“We are going to have a big lunch today,” said Thimba Jnr. “I have missed the feeling of winning a golf tournament. I played well here; it was a phenomenal week for me. It was not easy today, though, because of the rain. The first nine holes were difficult but I kept calm and I was cool under pressure.

“To win again is special because it tells me I still have what it takes. I have worked hard to get my game back to where it is. Everything just clicked this week.”

Thimba Jnr made three birdies on the front nine which were accompanied by a solitary drop on the 8th. After the turn, he went on a three-birdie run from 11 through 14 while masterfully keeping the big numbers off his card. He then finished with a birdie on the par-five 18th to seal a convincing win against a strong field, a testimony to his solid mentality.

ALTRON BIG EASY TOUR

Louis Oosthuizen’s victory at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open with his family there to see him win it for the first time and also claim back-to-back title for the first time, was a moment to remember.

With a birdie on the last hole of a La Réserve Golf Links course that he co-designed with Peter Matkovich for a final round of 69, Oosthuizen claimed his second victory in as many weeks on the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour with a two-shot triumph in December.

“I’ve never gone back-to-back before so it’s a big dream to be able to do that, and then having my family with me is very special,” said Oosthuizen, who closed out the week on 17 under par to add to his victory at the Alfred Dunhill Championship the previous week.

England’s Laurie Canter finished second on 15 under par after a closing 68, while Sweden’s Sebastian Söderberg signed for a 63 to share third place on 14 under par alongside England’s Daniel Brown (65) and South Africa’s Jacques P de Villiers (71).

Oosthuizen had to quickly acclimatise to not only the travel but also a golf course which, even though he co-designed, he had yet to play.

“The golf course was spectacular to play and I think in a year or two, when it has settled and the greens are faster and the rough will have grown a bit, it’s going to be really tough. But for the team here to get this ready to be hosting the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open this year was some magic,” said Oosthuizen.

The South African didn’t have the best start with back-to-back bogeys on the 4th and 5th holes which opened the door for several others to challenge for the lead.

“I started poorly and didn’t hit it great, but then I found some rhythm on the 6th, 7th and 8th. I felt really comfortable on the back nine and started hitting good shots. And coming down the 18th it’s nice to have three putts to win,” he added.

TYRONE WINFIELD/SUNSHINE TOUR

GOLFRSA

GolfRSA National Squad member Chris Bagnall claimed his first international title with a one-shot triumph at the Emirates Amateur Open at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai in early January.

Bagnall shared the first-round lead on two under and made a solid start in the final round, but the wheels came off suddenly when he double-bogeyed the par-five 10th.

Although he rallied brilliantly with birdies on the 11th and 13th, he had been caught by 14-year-old Louis Klein and the Czech prodigy set the clubhouse target at level-par 144.

Tied for the lead as he reached the final hole of the Malis Course, Bagnall set himself up for a birdie finish with a superb drive and approach in the fading light. To the delight of the members and golf fans, who were illuminating the green with their mobile phone torches and lighters, the South African holed the 15-foot clutch putt for a final-round 73 victory on the one-under 143.

The 20-year-old Bagnall, on a break from the University of Notre Dame, paid tribute to his coach for encouraging him to make the trip to Dubai for training.

“I must thank my coach Jamie McConnell from the CH3 Performance Academy at The Els Club for encouraging me travel to Dubai for lessons during my winter break, and for urging me to play the Emirates Amateur Open,” he said.

“It was the first time I’d played the Faldo and Malis courses, and they were both awesome. I had one bad swing all day – a duck hook on the 10th tee – but overall, I was pleased with my golf. It’s really great to come away with a W.”

ERIK S LESSER/EPA/BACKPAGEPIX/PGA TOUR

The 2023 Players Championship winner Scottie Scheffler was announced as the winner of the Jack Nicklaus Award as the PGA Tour Player of the Year for the 2022-23 season. He is the first player to win this award in back-to-back seasons since Tiger Woods won in three straight years from 2005-2007.

Eric Cole, the only rookie to advance to the 2023 BMW Championship, was named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, receiving the Arnold Palmer Award.

The Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards are determined by a member vote, with PGA Tour members who played at least 15 official FedExCup events during the 2022-23 season eligible to vote. Scheffler received 38% of the vote for the Jack Nicklaus Award and was selected over four other nominees: Wyndham Clark, Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm. Cole received 51% of the vote for the Arnold Palmer Award and was selected over three other nominees: Ludvig Åberg, Nico Echavarria and Vincent Norrman.

Scheffler won twice during the 2022-23 season, successfully defending his title at the WM Phoenix Open and winning The Players Championship by five strokes. In 23 starts, he recorded 13 top-fives and 17 top-10s, both high marks for any player in a single season on Tour since 2005, when Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods each had 13 top-fives and Singh 18 top-10s. Scheffler set the PGA Tour record for most Official Money earned in a single season at $21 014 342, breaking his own record set last season ($14 046 910).

The 27-year-old is the fourth player to win the Jack Nicklaus Award in back-to-back seasons (established 1990), joining Fred Couples (1991, 1992), Nick Price (1993, 1994), and Woods (five straight from 1999-2003, three straight from 2005-2007). McIlroy (three times) and Dustin Johnson (twice) are the only other players to win Player of the Year honours multiple times. Scheffler also received the Byron Nelson Award for recording the lowest Scoring Average on Tour in 2022-23. At 68.63, his Scoring Average was the lowest on Tour since Woods in 2009 (68.05).

Scheffler and Cole were presented with the awards at The Sentry, which served as the PGA Tour’s season-opening event for the first time since 2013.

SUPPLIED/JUNIOR ORANGE BOWL

GolfRSA National Squad pair Jack Buchanan and Gia Raad kicked off their 2024 golf season on a high note with top-five finishes at the 75th Junior Orange Bowl International Golf Championships in Miami.

Over four blustery days at the historic Biltmore Golf Club, the South African juniors went head-to-head with 93 top-ranked juniors from 43 countries at the golf tournament – one of 10 athletic, artistic and cultural events that make up the annual Junior Orange Bowl International Youth Festival that draws more than 7 500 youth participants to South Florida.

The windy conditions suited Buchanan, who honed his craft at the links course at Milnerton Golf Club and won twice in similarly brutal conditions at St Francis Links and Kingswood in 2023. He showcased his skills with rounds of 70, 69, 72 and 70 to finish second overall on three-under-par 281 in the Boys Competition.

Reigning Nomads SA Girls champion and winner of the 2023 English Girls Championship Raad blasted from the blocks with a three-under-par 68 in the more benign conditions on day one to share the first-round lead in the Girls Competition, but the Gauteng junior slipped to a fifth-place finish after further rounds of 77, 70 and 77.

Buchanan headed home after the event, but Raad will be making her debut alongside fellow GolfRSA National Squad members Ellandri van Heerden and Kesha Louw at the 2024 Hilton Grand Vacations Annika Invitational presented by Rolex at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando from 14-17 January.

Players will compete for total prize money of more than €8 000 000 for the second consecutive year and the 2024 Road to Mallorca will begin with the SDC Open at the start of February, the first of four co-sanctioned events with the Sunshine Tour in South Africa.

The Challenge Tour returns to India in March with the Delhi Challenge and Kolkata Challenge, the latter of which will be played at Royal Calcutta Golf Club – the oldest golf club in India and the first outside Great Britain. The Road to Mallorca heads to the United Arab Emirates in April with back-to-back events and then to Spain in May for the Challenge de España. This will kickstart a run of 18 tournaments in 21 weeks and see the Road to Mallorca travel through 14 countries in Europe, including Poland and Ireland.

The Road to Mallorca returns to China for back-to-back events in October, the Hainan Open followed by the Hangzhou Open, which offers a final opportunity to tee at up in the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A. The Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final returns to Club de Golf Alcanada for the third successive year for the end-of-season showpiece from 31 October to 3 November, as the top 45 players on the Rankings battle it out in Mallorca for one of the life-changing 20 DP World Tour cards.

Those 20 players who benefit from this formal pathway to the DP World Tour will then be eligible for the DP World Tour’s Earnings Assurance Programme, guaranteeing them minimum earnings of $150 000 for the 2025 season if they play at 15 or more events. The top-five graduates will also benefit from the John Jacobs Bursary, similarly designed to provide security and a strong platform for their first season on the European Tour group’s top tier.

TYRONE WINFIELD/SUNSHINE TOUR

The DP World Tour has confirmed that the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters will be the fifth of eight events in the International Swing on the 2024 Race to Dubai. The tournament, which was won by Finland’s Sami Välimäki in 2023, will take place from 8-11 February at Doha Golf Club, as it returns to its traditional date in the early part of the year.

The Commercial Bank Qatar Masters will be the fifth stop on the International Swing – and the last of five in the Middle East – before the Swing concludes in Africa, with the Magical Kenya Open, SDC Championship and Jonsson Workwear Open.

Ben Cowen, chief tournament business officer at the DP World Tour, said: “We are thrilled to complete the International Swing by adding the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. The event has been a staple on the DP World Tour schedule for over 25 years and we must thank Commercial Bank, Doha Golf Club, the Qatar Golf Association and the Qatar Olympic Committee for their support in making it what it is today.

“We are looking forward to working together again in 2024 as we plan for another highly successful staging of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.”

The International Swing is part of the new-look 2024 Race to Dubai, where each of the five Global Swings will have its own identity and its own champion who will each earn $200 000 from an overall $1million Bonus Pool. Swing champions will also qualify for the ‘Back 9’ events, before the season concludes with the DP World Tour Playoffs.

GETTY IMAGES/DP WORLD TOUR

BUSHVELD TOUR

English professional Joe Knox made a record 10 birdies in a row on 5 December last year when he had a fast start to his second round of the Bushveld Tour’s Race to Q-School Series #3 at Waterkloof Golf Club.

“I ended up only shooting a seven-under 65, which I guess is disappointing after my start,” said Knox. “My putter went cold on me on the back nine. I didn’t make another birdie. I three-putted 11 going for my 11th straight birdie.”

Knox, 27, has been playing in South Africa since 2022 with the aim of earning a Sunshine Tour card through Q-School in April.

“The run should have ended after the 5th,” he said, “because the par-three 6th is long and has a mad green. I hit an 8-iron to about 30 feet, and my putt had something like six feet of break. In it went.”

There’s only one other recorded instance of 10 consecutive birdies. In 2019, American Brandon Beck opened a Southern California Golf Association tournament at Rustic Canyon Golf Club with 10 straight birdies.

The feat eclipsed the previous South African record of nine which was set by Alan McLean in the third round of the 2005 Telkom PGA Championship. His run began at the 7th at Woodhill Country Club and ended at the 15th. Nine in a row has been achieved three times on the DP World Tour, most recently on 18 November last year by Englishman Matt Wallace, who birdied every hole on the back nine of the Earth Course at Jumeirah in Dubai.

The future of South African golf was on full display as the South African Under-19 Inter-Provincial played out at Centurion Country Club in December, with Western Province and Boland crowned the 2023 champions.

It was a week to remember for Western Province rookies Bjorn Nord, Henru Walters and Josh Daniels, who lined up alongside their captain Jack Buchanan and fellow team members Andries van der Vyver, Jungwi Lee, Mitch Phigeland and Pearce Lewin.

Province started the week on a winning note, beating KwaZulu-Natal 8.5-3.5 and defending champions Central Gauteng 7.5-4.5. After wins against Eastern Province (9.5-2.5) and North West (8-4), they edged Southern Cape (6.5-5.5) to retain the lead. But they faced their biggest challenge on the final day – a resolute Gauteng North side, who had banked nine points to move to second in the log.

“With just one point separating us, we knew we were in for an uphill battle, because there was no margin for error. The winner would take it all,” said Buchanan.

The teams drew the foursomes 2-all, and the morning session set the stage for thrilling finale with the singles going down to the wire.

Lewin mowed down Nathan Schuldt 7 & 5, but Charl Barnard routed Buchanan 6 & 5 to square the match. Walters and Lee got the WP hopes up with 4 & 3 wins, but losses by Van der Vyfer and Phigeland levelled the score once again. When Nord, playing at No 1, lost 3 & 1 to Dan Bennett, Western Province’s hopes rested on the shoulders of young Daniels. The Durbanville rookie had gone out first in the singles, but he stepped up like a seasoned veteran, defeating Abdul Malik Ebrahim 2 & 1 to square the match.

“When Josh made the par putt to win on 17 to win it for us, he proved once again that IPTs are a team effort, and everyone is a hero,” said Buchanan. “Everyone played a part to get us across the finish line and I am so proud of all my teammates.

“To finish the week undefeated was incredible and credit must go to our managers Shaun le Roux and Nigel Pillay; we are very grateful for all your input and support. Leading the team to victory was a special swansong and I will always treasure this memory.”

Meanwhile, Boland bulldozed their way to victory in the B Section. After a slow start against Free State (6.5-5.5) and Border (6-6) on day one, skipper Romeo le Roux, Dylan Kayne, Gerard Hartman, Gerhard van der Merwe, Ghery Rabie, Sergio Japhets, Tynan Vermeulen and Zandre Robberts shifted into high gear.

The team steamrolled the opposition, defeating Limpopo 11-1 and beating Northen Cape and Mpumalanga 9-3. In the final round Boland squashed Ekurhuleni’s title hopes with a resounding 8.5-3.5 victory to secure their spot in the A Section for 2024.

GOLFRSA