Michael Vlismas
GEORGE, Western Cape – Wilco Nienaber produced the most dominant performance of his career as he won his second NTT DATA Pro-Am title by seven strokes at Fancourt on Sunday.
Nienaber closed out a wire-to-wire victory that began with a 60 in the first round and ended with a 70 on the Montagu course on Sunday for a winning score of 27 under par.
Jean-Paul Strydom finished second on 20 under par with a closing 66.
It was an emotional day for Nienaber, who paid tribute to his ill grandfather after his win.
“It’s not going well with my grandfather. He’s currently in a step down facility and has been diagnosed with cancer. It’s been a tough time because we are a tight family. I went and saw him on Monday before this tournament. He has played a big role in my career. He was always there and has always loved his sport. He would’ve been here today if he could’ve been,” said Nienaber.
With his victory Nienaber joins an exclusive list of only four players to have won this title twice in its 30-year history, including Nick Price, Darren Fichardt and Oliver Bekker.
It was a victory made even sweeter by the fact that, unlike his last win in this event which came amidst the COVID pandemic, he could have his family with him to celebrate.
“It’s very cool to have them all here. This was a good performance. I wanted to get to 30 under par, but I’m proud of myself,” he said.
This was arguably Nienaber’s finest exhibition of golf considering the hold he had on this tournament from day one, and the fact that he came through 72 holes with only one bogey.
“It’s awesome. You dream of it. It’s nice to have a big lead like I did but you can’t really ever settle. It’s always in the back of your mind to not make a mistake. It’s nice to win early in the year though.”
SCORES
262 – Wilco Nienaber 60 66 66 70
269 – Jean-Paul Strydom 70 68 65 66
271 – Per Langfors 70 64 68 69, Sam Jones 68 65 69 69, Jacques Blaauw 63 66 69 73
272 – JC Ritchie 66 70 70 66, Eddie Pepperell 63 72 70 67, Jamie Rutherford 72 62 70 68
273 – Ryan Lumsden 68 69 68 68, Daniel van Tonder 68 68 72 65, Daniel Young 69 68 67 69
274 – Hennie O’Kennedy 68 70 68 68, Martin Rohwer 71 69 67 67, Gregorio De Leo 67 69 69 69
275 – Bryce Easton 69 69 68 69, Santiago Tarrio 68 71 67 69, Gerhard Pepler 70 68 68 69, Kyle Barker 65 67 68 75
276 – Lars van Meijel 70 71 69 66, Herman Loubser 69 70 67 70, Max Kennedy 67 69 70 70, Christoffer Bring 65 70 72 69, Martin Vorster 67 71 70 68
277 – John Axelsen 71 69 70 67, Brandon Meads 69 73 68 67, Luke Brown 67 73 66 71, Jacques Kruyswijk 71 68 68 70, Jovan Rebula 66 67 72 72, Maximilian Steinlechner 69 70 68 70
278 – Quim Vidal 75 65 71 67, Stefano Mazzoli 66 69 73 70
279 – Casey Jarvis 72 68 70 69, Jean Hugo 68 72 71 68, Christiaan Burke 75 69 66 69, Dylan Naidoo 70 74 67 68, George Bloor 72 69 66 72, Filippo Celli 68 70 67 74, Yurav Premlall 72 67 69 71, Felix Mory 69 65 73 72, MJ Viljoen 70 66 72 71, Matthis Besard 70 69 69 71
280 – Victor Pastor 74 69 67 70, Lucas Vacarisas 67 70 73 70, Gregor Graham 74 71 66 69, Rourke van der Spuy 71 72 68 69, Michael Hollick 73 67 71 69, Daan Huizing 69 69 71 71, Jonathan Caldwell 71 69 68 72, Jonathan Broomhead 69 73 67 71
281 – Luke Jerling 66 74 71 70, Aron Zemmer 74 66 69 72, Neil Schietekat 71 67 69 74, Pieter Moolman 71 68 69 73, Robin Sciot-Siegrist 70 70 68 73, Lee Slattery 69 67 74 71, Euan Walker 72 67 70 72, Lyle Rowe 67 71 71 72
282 – Chris Paisley 71 68 71 72, Deon Germishuys 68 71 71 72, Renato Paratore 67 77 66 72
283 – Tomas Gouveia 68 69 73 73, Callan Barrow 69 72 70 72, Will Enefer 71 66 74 72
284 – Malcolm Mitchell 66 69 71 78, Robin Petersson 73 68 65 78
285 – Rupert Kaminski 69 69 73 74
286 – Nikhil Rama 71 66 73 76, Sam Locke 69 68 73 76, Dermot Mcelroy 70 69 72 75
289 – George Coetzee 68 70 72 79
290 – Matthew Spacey 69 71 71 79
Missed the cut:-
212 – Sebastien Gros 67 76 69, Matt Oshrine 72 67 73, Arron Edwards-Hill 73 70 69, Anthony Michael 70 73 69, Jacques P de Villiers 68 73 71, Pedro Figueiredo 67 72 73, Freddy Schott 67 71 74, Benjamin Follett-Smith 69 72 71, Sebastian Garcia 68 70 74, Cedric Gugler 74 70 68, Albert Boneta 74 71 67
213 – Haydn Barron 70 69 74, Borja Virto 73 66 74, Oliver Wilson 68 72 73, Louis Albertse 69 71 73, Dylan Mostert 71 74 68
214 – Ethan Smith 71 66 77, Tyran Snyders 69 72 73, Jens Fahrbring 71 74 69, Palmer Jackson 73 71 70, Dan Erickson 67 76 71, Wynand Dingle 73 70 71, Jaco Van Zyl 72 72 70, Sam Hutsby 74 69 71, Joseph Winslow 73 69 72, Lukas Nemecz 69 72 73, Adri Arnaus 72 69 73, Hennie Otto 71 72 71
215 – Sebastian Friedrichsen 66 73 76, Clément Charmasson 75 69 71, Keenan Davidse 75 72 68, Christofer Rahm 70 69 76, Nicolai Kristensen 68 76 71, Rhys Enoch 73 72 70, Heinrich Bruiners 73 73 69
216 – Bradley Bawden 68 73 75, James Morrison 75 72 69, Shaun Norris 70 73 73, Oihan Guillamoundeguy 71 69 76
217 – Jason Roets 75 71 71, Maxence Giboudot 73 74 70, Danie Van Niekerk 72 70 75, David Law 75 74 68, CJ du Plessis 75 74 68, Jeremy Freiburghaus 73 68 76, Frank Kennedy 68 74 75, Combrinck Smit 71 69 77
218 – Hayden Hopewell 67 76 75, Kyle De Beer 73 67 78, Ilirian Zalli 72 69 77
219 – Christofer Blomstrand 71 71 77, Taylor Funk 72 77 70, Keelan van Wyk 75 71 73, Stefan Wears-Taylor 71 79 69, Jordan Duminy 72 74 73, Ricky Hendler 72 77 70, Doug McGuigan 75 66 78, Jaco Ahlers 73 72 74, JJ Senekal 73 75 71
220 – Tadeas Tetak 75 76 69, Justin Walters 71 74 75, Zander Lombard 74 71 75, Ruan Korb 78 70 72, Werner Deyzel 75 68 77
221 – Makhetha Mazibuko 75 71 75, Travis Ladner 70 75 76, Sentanio Minnie 71 72 78, Franklin Manchest 73 74 74, Joachim B. Hansen 72 78 71, Peter Karmis 74 76 71, Jamie Donaldson 73 72 76, Marc Warren 74 74 73
222 – Soren Broholt Lind 74 74 74
223 – Alan McLean 74 75 74, Albert Venter 74 75 74, Oliver Bekker 73 78 72
225 – Joshua Grenville-Wood 74 74 77
226 – Trevor Mahoney 76 74 76, Lyle Pedro 70 77 79, Keegan Mclachlan 75 72 79, Ben Stow 70 70 86
234 – Adam Breen 80 82 72
236 – Umar Davids 73 75 88
237 – Trevor Fisher Jnr 83 74 80
76 – Robson Chinhoi 76
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