SUN CITY, South Africa (Reuters) – 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 round 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 season-ending 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.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ken Ferris)
