Latest news with #SouthAfricanOpen
BBC News
27-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
England's Penge claims maiden DP World Tour title
Hainan Classic - final leaderboard-17 M Penge (Eng); -14 S Crocker (US), K Reitan (Nor); -13 R Neergaard-Petersen (Den); -12 M Couvra (Fra); -11 E Molinari (Ita), S Bairstow (Eng), X Bowen (Chn)Selected others: -7 C Purcell (Ire); -6 B Schmidt (Eng), M Baldwin (Eng), G Forrest (Sco), A Sullivan (Eng); -5 J SeniorFull leaderboard England's Marco Penge claimed his maiden DP World Tour title - just two months after returning from a betting 26-year-old was given a three-month ban in December for placing bets on multiple events, with one month suspended for a returning to action, Penge had finished third at the South African Open in March, and followed that up by securing a three-shot victory at the Hainan Classic in China on who joined the European-based tour last year, started the day in a share of the lead with China's Xiao Bowen and was one shot behind Sean Crocker as he began the back he hit three straight birdies from the 12th to go clear before finishing with a five-under 67 to seal the win on 17 under Crocker finished in a tie for second with Norway's Kristoffer Reitan on 14 under, with Denmark's Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen a shot further back."This means the world to me," said Penge. "It's something that I've always dreamt of achieving - winning on the biggest stage."After my time off it was the thing that I wanted to really prove to myself and prove to everyone, to show what a player I am."My caddie, through that time, has been my rock. And my wife and my whole team - I wouldn't be where I am without them."Victory saw Penge finish third on the DP World Tour's Asian Swing standings so he also earned a spot at the US PGA Championship at Quail Keita Nakajima, who finished in a tie for 11th on Sunday, was top of the standings ahead of Spain's Eugenio Chacarra, so both will also be heading to the year's second major next month.
Boston Globe
12-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
The secret to Sawgrass for The Players Championship: Play well and stay out of trouble
The PGA Tour's premier event — it has been referred to as the 'fifth major' — begins Thursday with the same level of intrigue. There are great players. There are players in great form. But anything goes over the next four days. Advertisement The secret to Sawgrass? 'Playing good,' said Scheffler, who last year had to make up a five-shot deficit with a sore neck by holing out for eagle on the fourth hole on his way to a 64. 'You can't fake it around this place,' Scheffler said. 'I think there's a lot of genius in the way the golf course is designed. There is some volatility in terms of the hazard. That provides a lot of volatility for how the golf course can play, especially in high wind. 'It doesn't suit one type of player,' he said. 'It's not a horses-for-courses-type place. It's just the guys that are playing the best are going to be on the leaderboard on Sunday.' That sounds simple enough, though that requires a view of Perks in 2002. He played great that week — turns out it was his only PGA Tour victory — but had to chip in for eagle from the edge of the 16th green, holing a long birdie putt on the island-green 17th, and then chipping in for par on the 18th. Simple. If the island green at the par-3 17th, or water in play on all but a handful of holes isn't enough, the PGA Tour restored the tree that hung sideways over the tee box on No. 6 that frames the shot and gives players one more thing to think about. Advertisement 'I certainly have to hit it a little lower than my preferred launch window,' Rory McIlroy said. McIlroy won in 2019 and he has three other top-10 finishes. He also has missed the cut seven times, keeping in form of other past champions. 'You just have to be so on your game here,' McIlroy said. 'I think that's the main key. It's such a course on execution, and if you're not executing like 100 percent, you leave yourself in spots where it's really tough to get up-and-down. You have to hit the ball where you're looking, and if you can do that, you can do well here. 'It's one of the best tests of the year, for sure.' Among the newcomers this year is Laurie Canter of England, who got plenty of attention Wednesday during the first-timer interviews because he spent parts of three years cashing in at Saudi-backed LIV Golf. Canter was an alternate who was never in trouble with the European tour because he had limited status. And then he played beautifully enough to work his way into the top 50 in the world, the final push a runner-up finish in the South African Open. Six others have won for the first time in the last year, three of them in 2025 — Brian Campbell (Mexico), Joe Highsmith (PGA National), and Karl Vilips (Puerto Rico). Scheffler has a chance to join Jack Nicklaus as the only three-time winners of The Players Championship. Nicklaus won his three before it moved to TPC Sawgrass in 1982. The Masters champion is still waiting to hit his stride after sitting out all of January with a hand injury from trying to cut ravioli with a wine glass. Advertisement But he has been on an amazing run, capped off by his nine-win season in 2025, winning back-to-back at The Players and building such a big lead at No. 1 in the world that he is assured of being atop the world ranking for two straight years. No one except Woods has done that. 'Scottie is the closest thing to Tiger I think any of us have seen,' Wyndham Clark said. 'He not only is the No. 1 player in the world, he embraces it, and he shows up every week and almost wins or is in contention or does win. It's very impressive. 'I think he's kind of the mark we're all trying to get to, and I have nothing but respect for everything that Scottie is doing, and I love that it doesn't affect him,' Clark said. 'It hasn't gone to his head. He just continues to be Scottie and goes about his way.' American Wyndham Clark referred to World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler as "the closest thing to Tiger I think any of us have seen" during his chat with the press Wednesday at The Players Championship. Cliff Hawkins/Getty
Telegraph
04-03-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Moment I helped Laurie Canter realise he could qualify for Players Championship
Laurie Canter went into last week's South African Open believing he had missed out on the chance to make history at next week's Players Championship. 'My manager had looked in the PGA Tour's players handbook and it said that the cut-off point to get into the world top 50 and so qualify for Sawgrass was the week before,' Canter says. 'I only realised there had been a misprint when the Telegraph contacted me.' This was last Tuesday, two days before the tournament at Durban Country Club began. Canter, who won the Bahrain Open in January to put himself into contention, suddenly realised how much there was on the line. 'I was 53rd in the rankings and needed to finish at least in the top four,' he said. The 35-year-old from Bath spectacularly rose to the challenge, but was ultimately beaten in a one-hole play-off on Sunday, after a dramatic downpour cancelled the final day's play and reduced the event to 54 holes. 'It was bittersweet, because I was gutted to lose, but also delighted to get into the top 50 and get into the Players and put myself in line to also get into the Masters,' he said. 'And also Dylan [Naidoo, the South African] became the first player of colour to lift his national title, so it was nice to be part of that history.' Canter is about to provide his own update to the record books. On the famous Stadium Course a week on Thursday, he is due to become the first golfer who has appeared on LIV Golf to play in a regular PGA Tour event, a notable moment in the ongoing split at the top of the professional male's game since the Saudi-funded league was formed nearly three years ago. Regular, but no normal week, as the $25 million Players is the Tour's flagship event. Inevitably there will be plenty of interest in a personality who collected almost £4.5 million on the breakaway league. 'The way I'm looking is pretty simple. I've already played on eight or nine professional Tours around the world, so this will be my first chance to have a go on the PGA Tour,' he said after returning home to Somerset on Monday. 'I do accept the LIV angle, and if anything, I hope this shows, in a very, very small way within this whole saga, that maybe players can come back together in a few different events, other than the majors.'
NBC Sports
02-03-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Highlights: South African Open, Final Round
Watch highlights from the final round of the DP World Tour's South African Open at the Durban Golf Course.
NBC Sports
02-03-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC Sports
Dylan Naidoo birdies first playoff hole to win rain-hit South African Open
The Bear Trap was mean to many players in Round 3 of the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. Watch the best and worst shots of the day from the brutal three-hole stretch. DURBAN, South Africa — Dylan Naidoo held his nerve on the first playoff hole to sink a birdie putt and win the rain-marred South African Open on Sunday for his first DP World Tour win. The fourth round was first suspended and then canceled due to a flooded course at the Durban Country Club. The 27-year-old South African went to a playoff against Englishman Laurie Canter on the 18th hole, and both teed off well. Brentley Romine, But Naidoo's superb second shot saw his chip from the fairway land near the flag, while Canter overhit his effort and saw his ball roll to the edge of the green. Canter then overhit his birdie attempt, leaving Naidoo a putt for victory on home soil. After the ball dropped in, Naidoo leaned back and his cap fell off as he put his head in his hands. He then hugged his caddie and let out a disbelieving laugh. 'I don't know what to say, it just feels like a dream. Am I going to wake up at some point?' a jubilant Naidoo said moments later. 'I don't know what to say. This is a special moment for me, for everybody here in Durban. Jeepers!' Naidoo set a new course record when he carded an 11-under 61 in the second round and felt the support of the home crowd. 'Yesterday, I felt like I was Tiger Woods, there were so many people, so much energy,' Naidoo said. His victory earns him a spot at the British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, while Canter leads the Race to Dubai Rankings. Englishman Dale Whitnell, who made two holes-in-one in the same round on Friday, tied for seventh with Italian Andrea Pavan at 11 under overall.
