| -11 T Fleetwood (Eng): -10 R Fox (NZ): -9 S Sharma (Ind); -8 R Ramsay (Sco); -7 C Bezuidenhout (SA), S Soderberg (Swe) |
| Selected others:-5 R Bland (Eng); -4 L Donald (Eng), E Ferguson (Sco), S Jamieson (Sco), J Smith (Eng); -3 R Fisher (Eng), S Horsfield (Eng), D Law (Sco) |
| Leaderboard |
An emotional Tommy Fleetwood shed tears after he defended his Nedbank Golf Challenge title by winning the 2022 event at Sun City in South Africa.
The tournament had not taken place since the Englishman won it in 2019 for what was his last Tour victory.
Fleetwood carded 67 in the final round to finish on 11 under, one shot clear of New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, who shot 68.
Both players were level going into the 18th, but Fleetwood shot a par four, while Fox bogeyed the hole with a five.
Fleetwood began the day three shots behind the leaders and his final round included an eagle on the 14th, four birdies and a bogey.
Earlier in the week, it was announced he will captain Great Britain and Ireland in next year’s inaugural Hero Cup.
“It’s been a great week,” said Fleetwood. “I already had so many great memories from this place and felt like I had a great connection to it, so this just added to that.”
Play was interrupted on Friday because of bad weather and it happened again on Sunday, while Fleetwood was also unwell during the event.
“It’s amazing that we got four rounds in in the end,” he added. “I felt great when we came back out.
“It was touch and go on Thursday morning and then on Friday I felt like I had nothing in me at all. I didn’t really sleep that night, really poorly again.
“The doctor he has been amazing because without him there was no chance on Thursday I would have played.”
The win moved Fleetwood to fourth in the DP World Tour rankings, with compatriot Matt Fitzpatrick third. Fox is in second spot, with Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy leading the standings.
