Daniel van Tonder capped off a stellar 2021 at his national open and looks set to keep his winning run going, writes BRENDAN BARRATT.
Daniel van Tonder doesn’t do things by the book. Instead, as he has done much of his whole life, the 30-year-old has forged his own path and done things his own way.
As the new 2021 South African Open champion, there is little doubt that his way, while rather unorthodox, is extremely effective. It has always been so.
As a former No 1-ranked amateur, Van Tonder emerged as one of the most promising juniors in the country.
The broad-shouldered young man from Boksburg may have had an unusual golf swing, but he hit the ball miles and, importantly, exhibited that rare trait – that X factor – that helped him close out tournaments when he got into the hunt.
From an early age, Van Tonder knew how to win.
After turning professional at the relatively young age of 20, he cut his teeth on the newly formed developmental IGT Tour, again racking up the wins – no fewer than 10 at his first 19 events in 2011.
In the short space of just a couple of months, Van Tonder earned his Sunshine Tour card, and claimed the 2012 Rookie of the Year award.
‘The IGT Tour gave me a very good idea of what to expect in the pro ranks and a load of confidence that got me through that first brutal year on the Sunshine Tour,’ he said.
Two Sunshine Tour wins came in quick succession in 2014, before his life – and his career – hit an unfortunate bump in the road. That year it emerged that personal issues with his family resulted in a severing of ties between Van Tonder and his parents.
His blog on the European Tour reveals that golf may have been a welcome escape from a troubled childhood.
‘My parents were the ones who forced me into golf,’ he wrote. ‘I don’t think any child would choose practising from eight in the morning until five in the evening over playing games and chilling, so for a while I didn’t enjoy it, and then after a while you see it as your way out of a not-so-good situation.’
The personal issues were certainly flattening out his career trajectory and while his results weren’t terrible, he was unable to crack on and reach his potential.
‘I have to admit that it did affect me mentally,’ he says. ‘I couldn’t think straight. I was listening to so many people. Coaches were telling me all sorts of things I was doing wrong with my swing. I lost friends because we had different views in life. I completely lost my identity. I had to start from the beginning, think about my amateur days of how competitive I used to be and I had to reignite my passion for golf.’
Fortunately for Van Tonder there were two pillars on which he could lean. The first was his wife Abigail, who has been caddying for him since 2014, and the second was his steadfast conviction in his own, unique golf swing.
Abigail has been a hugely positive influence on Van Tonder and the pair form a great partnership, on and off the course.
‘She’s great,’ Van Tonder says. ‘She does the yardages, 90% of the time she does club selection – so all the birdies I make are because of her when I listen, and the bogeys are when I don’t.’
Van Tonder’s golf swing comes as a result of him being self-taught from the moment he started playing golf, aged 12. In fact, he has never had a coach.
His arms remain outstretched, away from his body, on the backswing and followthrough, and while it looks rather ungainly, it produces a reliable gentle draw.
His swing thoughts reflect how Van Tonder likes to keep his golf uncomplicated.
‘For me, my swing feels simple,’ he says. ‘I just pull it back and go through with it. I know it looks different to others, but it’s me. When you’re self-taught you can’t see it. It feels right to me. And who is anyone else to judge? I went to see a coach when I thought I was struggling. Then I went to a few others. Everyone said something different.
‘So I just thought, stuff that, I’m going to do my own thing, and it works for me. I went back to trusting myself. All I think about during my swing is “pull-back, pull-through”.’
Renowned golf instructor Pete Cowan sees no problem with the Van Tonder golf swing. ‘There is only one common denominator among all good players,’ he says. ‘They all get into pretty much the same “delivery position” for the shots they are trying to play.
‘But they all do that in different ways. I like Daniel’s swing and how he goes about it. His method is constant. He gets the club in the right position. At an early age he clearly picked up a club and thought, “This feels right to me” and “I do it better this way.” I like and admire that in any player.’
During the lockdown period of Covid-19, Van Tonder used the downtime wisely, making some important tweaks to his swing. He also changed his diet, lost some weight and worked on his flexibility.
The results were impressive. When the Sunshine Tour resumed after Covid-19 in 2020, with the Rise-Up Series, Van Tonder won three of the five tournaments. He followed that up with a second Investec Royal Swazi Open title and, in March 2021, a maiden DP World Tour title when he beat Jazz Janewattananond in a playoff for the Kenya Savannah Classic. The win saw him break into the world’s top 100 golfers for the first time and earned him a debut Major appearance, at the 2021 PGA Championship, where he finished tie-44th at Kiawah Island.
Abigail has been a vital part of Van Tonder’s success, sometimes acting as the handbrake to his aggressive, swashbuckling style of play.
‘He’s matured a lot on the golf course. He used to be too aggressive and would get angry with himself,’ she says.
‘We’ve been together forever, but the way we make the wife/caddie relationship work is that we’ve actually set a rule that the golf course is business,’ Van Tonder says. ‘Yes, she’s my wife, but whatever is said on the golf course stays there, and she’s very good with that.
‘Abigail keeps me calm on the course and gives me confidence to play shots. I don’t feel like I need to back down for any shot. I feel like if I can make a swing, there’s no shot that’s too tough for me.’
The aggressive style makes Van Tonder a popular player to watch, but has also resulted in a fair share of heartbreak.
Twice on the DP World Tour and once on the Asian Tour he has missed out on earning his playing card by a single stroke. He also found himself in contention after two rounds of the 2021 Open Championship at Royal St George’s, only to slip back into a tie for 40th.
Yet his latest win at the SA Open feels like it comes with greater relevance. Against a strong field of mainly local players, on a challenging golf course, the 30-year-old was able to marry aggressive shot-making with smart course management – despite his wife not being on the bag this time round. In collecting his eighth Sunshine Tour title, it seems like Daniel van Tonder is beginning to figure it all out. In his own way, of course.
SA OPEN FINAL ROUND: HOW IT HAPPENED
After completing his third round on Sunday morning, due to a rain delay, Justin Harding began the final round of the 111th South African Open with a commanding four-stroke lead over Oliver Bekker and Daniel van Tonder. Disaster struck on the par-four 2nd hole, however, when Harding shanked his approach shot into the deep rough, ultimately tapping in for a triple-bogey seven.
Van Tonder made his move with five birdies in seven holes from the 5th. As Harding continued to struggle, only Bekker was able to counter Van Tonder’s brilliant play, with the Stellenbosch pro making three birdies on the final three holes to finish at 15 under – and the clubhouse lead.
Van Tonder, however, made a birdie of his own on the par-five closing hole to secure the 2021 South African Open title.
As expected, he did it the hard way, almost dunking his approach into the water and then hitting a weak chip shot that ended 20 feet short of the cup. The 30-year-old calmly slotted the birdie putt to seal his eighth Sunshine Tour victory with a final round of 65.
‘All I was thinking was just make the thing, give it a chance,’ he said. ‘The whole day I had been leaving putts pin-high or lipping out, so I just had to make sure I hit it. If it goes in, I win, if it stays out then I’m in a playoff. And when it went in I just thought, “Finally!”
‘This is a special win. This is the second-oldest national open in golf, and winning it is big. Watching people win, it has always looked so good. And now I can say I’m the SA Open champion.’
– This article first appeared in the January 2022 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine. Subscribe here!
Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
