Californian Johannes Veerman sealed a one-shot victory over Aldrich Potgieter, Matthew Jordan, and Romain Langasque at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa to claim a second DP World Tour title.
During the final round on Sunday at the Gary Player CC, South African Potgieter had a three-shot advantage and looked on course for a home victory. But after bogeying two of the last three holes, he dramatically lost his chance and fell back to tie for second alongside Jordan and Langasque.
32-year-old Veerman steadily remained a few shots behind him throughout the day, posting a handful of impressive birdies to do so, including a 20-foot birdie. He bogeyed the 5th, but the 6th saw another birdie and he finished off the front nine with yet another.
By the 11th hole, the round had turned itself in Veerman’s favour, as he’d made it up from his initial five-stroke deficit and Potgieter found some trouble at the 12th. Veerman took advantage to leapfrog the South African and snatch his second DP World Tour title since 2021 by a single shot, carding a three-under 69 to end on 5 under.
“I did not have the best of seasons in the last two years, but my team and I have put in countless hours (of practice),” Veerman said in an emotional speech afterwards. “To start this season with a win is indescribable. I thought I had a chance (at the start of the day), but then I thought I might have lost it when I three-putted on 16. Now it doesn’t matter!”
“It’s amazing. This is my first time playing the Nedbank and when I showed up on 18 for my practice round I could not believe how big the grandstands were. I thought wow, is there really going to be that many people here this week, and sure enough it was full since Thursday. The whole atmosphere and vibe of this tournament was world class.”
For their support and faith in his game, Veerman was quick to go on and credit his team and family, who all watched from the crowd.
“It means so much to me, my family, my team. My family sacrificed so much, they came out with me, we had a business that we sold that my wife ran, and she sold it so we could be together as a family out here on the road and travel with two kids, so it was a lot of work to say goodbye to friends and family for a whole year, so to essentially have it pay off is relieving, satisfying, all of those words.”
The American’s victory helped him climb from 209th to 131st in the world rankings.
What is the next event?
The next event on the DP World Tour is the Alfred Dunhill Championship taking place between 12-15 December at the Leopard Creek Country Club in South Africa.