New Zealand's Ryan Fox has been denied a chance to go top of the tour rankings before the season-ending DP World Tour Championship after finishing runner-up to England's Tommy Fleetwood at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.
Ryan Fox Photo: Photosport
Fleetwood shot a five-under-par 67 in the last round to defend his crown, holding off an intense challenge down the back nine from Ryan Fox and Shubhankar Sharma.
Fleetwood finished with a four-round total of 277 to edge Fox by one shot after the New Zealander bogeyed the last hole, with India's Sharma a further shot back in third place.
Fox paid for a poor tee shot on the 18th hole and posted his only bogey of the day at the worst possible moment.
It means Fox, 35, will set second in the standings behind four-time major winner Rory McIlroy ahead of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next week.
The New Zealander nevertheless took home 650,874 euros (NZ$1.1 million) for his fourth runner-up finish of the season, lifting his prizemoney tally to 3.27 million euros.
Fox was thrilled with his week.
"I played great and didn't miss a shot until 18. I'd liked to have played it better and made Tommy work a little bit harder but it's an incredibly tough golf course to play down the stretch," Fox said.
"I felt like I played some really good shots and gave myself plenty of chances.
"I'm still really happy. I don't think I've finished inside the top 50 here in three starts so if you had given me second and closing the gap by a decent amount on Rory at the start of the week, I would have taken it."
Sharma's challenge ended with bogeys at 16 and 17, and when Fleetwood tapped in for par at the last, after almost sinking a huge birdie attempt.
Overnight leaders Rasmus Hojgaard and Thomas Detry faded after a rain interruption midway through the round.
"It was such a lovely feeling coming down the back nine with a chance," said Fleetwood, who also lifted the trophy in 2019. "You draw on the good memories that you have round somewhere you've won. I felt good all day."
The 31-year-old Fleetwood holed an eagle from the bunker on the 14th to pull level with Fox and Sharma and set up an absorbing final four holes at the Sun City resort.
"It wasn't the best lie but I felt okay," said Fleetwood. "It wasn't a terrible place to be. I don't know how far it would have gone past but it came out lovely and went in. That spark, those kind of things, happen."
It was Fleetwood's first win in three years since taking the last Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted before the COVID-19 pandemic.
- RNZ/Reuters