Daniel van Tonder clearly has an affinity for Eswatini. The South African professional won the FNB Eswatini Challenge by two strokes at the Nkonyeni Lodge and Golf Estate to claim his third victory in the kingdom.
Van Tonder closed with a final round of 68 to win on 14 under par overall and collect his first victory on the Sunshine Tour since the 2021 South African Open Championship.
Yurav Premlell took second place on 12 under par with an impressive final round of 63, and Jason Roets finished third on 10 under par with a 73.
This is Van Tonder’s ninth Sunshine Tour title, but it’s his third in Eswatini after claiming his debut Sunshine Tour victory in the country in 2014 and then adding another here in 2020. He can also add a second place in 2012 to this list.
Van Tonder has been building towards this success following his finishes of eighth, fourth and 20th in his previous three Sunshine Tour events.
He was level par through 12 holes of his final round and with Premlall busy putting together his magnificent 63 and challenging for his first Sunshine Tour title.
The young star birdied three of his first four holes as he went out in 30. He came home in 33 strokes and was leading on his own towards the end of his round before Van Tonder overtook him with two birdies and an eagle in his last six holes.
“That was quite something. I did everything I could to get myself into a winning position. I just gave myself chances the whole way through to see where I ended up,” Premlall said after claiming the highest finish of his Sunshine Tour career.
Kyle de Beer’s finish of fifth – his best on the Sunshine Tour this season – kept him at the top of the Fortress Rookie of the Year standings.
The Sunshine Tour will have a week’s break before the start of the Vodacom Origins of Golf series from 16-18 August.
SCORES:
202 – Daniel van Tonder 68 66 68
204 – Yurav Premlall 71 70 63
206 – Jason Roets 67 66 73
207 – Neil Schietekat 68 69 70
208 – Kyle De Beer 69 70 69
209 – Jacques Blaauw 73 70 66, Samuel Simpson 71 71 67, Jonathan Broomhead 75 65 69
210 – Martin Rohwer 71 72 67, Ethan Smith 68 74 68, Franklin Manchest 69 70 71, Lyle Rowe 71 67 72
211 – MJ Viljoen 70 71 70, Graham van der Merwe 70 70 71, Keenan Davidse 69 68 74
212 – Brandon Meads 72 72 68, Nick Cunningham 71 71 70, Luke Brown 72 68 72
213 – Thanda Mavundla 69 75 69, Rourke van der Spuy 69 74 70, Otto Van Buynder 75 68 70, Combrinck Smit 67 72 74
214 – Therion Nel 70 73 71, Allister de Kock 70 73 71
215 – Stuart Krog 72 73 70, Leon Visser 71 73 71, Stephen Ferreira 67 74 74
216 – Kyle Barker 75 70 71, Stals Swart 74 71 71, James Hart du Preez 71 73 72, Robson Chinhoi 71 72 73, Dan Erickson 71 70 75, Callum Mowat 74 66 76
217 – Jean Hugo 71 74 72, Hennie O’Kennedy 73 72 72, Keagan Thomas 72 72 73, Luke Jerling 73 71 73, Travis Ladner 72 72 73, Ryan Van Velzen 74 69 74, Ruan Korb 73 70 74, Danie Van Niekerk 71 72 74, Altin van der Merwe 69 71 77
218 – Gerhard Pepler 78 67 73, Albert Venter 73 72 73, Christiaan Burke 72 72 74, Jacques P de Villiers 72 71 75, Sean Bradley 72 69 77
219 – Dayne Moore 74 71 74, Hayden Griffiths 72 72 75
221 – Ruan Groenewald 74 71 76, Ruan Conradie 72 73 76, Jovan Rebula 75 70 76
223 – Dylan O’Leary 75 67 81
225 – Steven Le Roux 74 69 82
Missed the cut:-
146 – Haydn Porteous 71 75, Simon du Plooy 74 72, Shaun Norris 70 76, Pieter Moolman 76 70, Wynand Dingle 71 75, James Mack 73 73, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 75 71
147 – Lyle Pedro 76 71, Nikhil Rama 76 71, Toto Thimba Jnr 76 71, Christiaan Basson 71 76, Stefan Wears-Taylor 72 75, Ricky Hendler 70 77, Quintin Wilsnach 72 75
148 – Keelan van Wyk 72 76, Rhys West 76 72, Rupert Kaminski 71 77, Trevor Fisher Jnr 75 73, Conner Mackenzie 74 74, Herman Loubser 77 71, Trevor Mahoney 71 77
149 – Matthew Spacey 72 77, Jean-Paul Strydom 78 71, Ruan de Smidt 75 74
150 – Umar Davids 72 78, Thabiso Ngcobo 80 70, Werner Deyzel 72 78, Heinrich Bruiners 73 77, Makhetha Mazibuko 74 76
151 – Raymond Mathonsi 74 77, Gerard du Plooy 76 75, Jake Redman 77 74
152 – Kyle McClatchie 75 77, Adam Breen 79 73, Merrick Bremner 76 76
153 – Brandon Pieters 73 80
154 – Irvin Mazibuko 77 77, LB Boshoff 77 77, Brandon-Jude Rennie 75 79
155 – Tristin Galant 76 79, Keegan Mclachlan 81 74, Joe Long 77 78, DK Kim 78 77, Dylan Mostert 77 78, Pride Sembo 81 74
156 – James Pennington 79 77, Gary Kemp 78 78
157 – Christian Kriek 80 77, Ricco Motsa 79 78
158 – Brandon Gildenhuys 77 81, Thabang Simon 83 75
159 – Sentanio Minnie 80 79
160 – Thulane Mkhaliphi 84 76
164 – Teddy Vilakati 81 83, Sanele Myeni 83 81
165 – Nhlanhla Mtsetfwa 83 82, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 82 83, Hanco Rudolph 89 76, Evance Vukeya 84 81
166 – Nicholus Vilakati 83 83, Mandla Dlamini Jnr 87 79
168 – Oscar Dube 86 82
172 – Jacobus Pienaar 88 84
177 – Robert Shiba 89 88
WDN – CJ du Plessis 74 WDN WDN, Estiaan Conradie 77 RTD RTD
Issued by Michael Vlismas Media
