DANIE’S TIME TO SHINE
MICHELANGELO IS A KEY club in Daniel van Tonder’s bag. It’s the name he has given his Scotty Cameron mallet putter – “it makes art on the greens” – and it played a major role in Van Tonder winning his first Order of Merit trophy. When Van Tonder played his first com- petitive round of 2025, he had been a dad for a month. His and wife Abigail’s first child, Gabriella, had arrived un- expectedly early in December during the week of the Alfred Dunhill. Van Tonder was keyed up for two big weeks at Leopard Creek and Mont Choisy in Mauritius, but not for long. In the Dun- hill second round he shot 83, one of his highest scores as a pro. His second nine of 46 included four doubles. “My con- centration was gone. I had to get home and see my little girl,” he revealed. “Seeing her smile for the first time was the best moment for me.” Heron Banks hosted the first event of 2025, the Mediclinic Invitational, in
January. One of SA’s newest courses, opened in 2014 on a residential estate near Sasolburg – Van Tonder’s birthplace – on the Free State bank of the Vaal River, its bent grass greens are exceptional. They were to Van Tonder’s liking, even though he had never seen the course before. He putted like a demon, having just 103 putts (23 birdies and three eagles) for a
Pecanwood. He banked R2.2 million, as opposed to R221 000 at the Mediclinic. He was on his way to achieving his long-thwarted ambition of winning the Order of Merit (Delivered by the Courier Guy) for the first time at 34. He had almost captured it at 24, losing by just R157 000 to Thomas Aiken in the 2014 season. In those three weeks Van Tonder produced some of the best golf of his life, and without Abigail as his caddie. “This was our first season apart, but she will be coming back as I’m missing her,” he said. He was in the zone, statistically the best putter on tour, a birdie machine with Michelangelo, making 72 of them in 12 rounds (plus 5 eagles) for a cumulative 66-under streak. At Zebula, having opened with
Danie’s 10 best results in 2024/25 Zambia Open 4 282 R105 000 Eswatini Challenge 1 202 R317 000 GVP Challenge 1 202 R317 000 SunBet Challenge 2 204 R220 000 Fortress Challenge 2 269 R221 000 Mediclinic 2 261 R221 000 SDC Open 1 266 R1,092 million MyGolfLife Open 1 261 R1,103 million Joburg Open 5 268 R869 200 Serengeti Playoffs 2 272 R276 250
23-under-par total of 261. That he failed to win was only down to the fact that young Austrian Max Steinlechner had 29 birdies and an eagle, winning by one with a birdie on the 72nd hole. That performance gave Van Tonder’s confidence a timely turbo boost before the SA Swing of the HotelPlanner Tour
(formerly the European Challenge Tour), four co-sanctioned events with prizemoney in euros which can be life- changing for local tour pros wanting to further their careers. It proved just that for Van Tonder, who in the next two weeks won the SDC Open at Zebula and MyGolfLife Open at
THREE MAJOR INVITES Danie van Tonder, as winner of the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy, is afforded the opportunity to tee up in three big tournaments this year, the US PGA Championship in May, The Open Championship in July, and Nedbank Golf Challenge in December. He has previously played in three majors and made his Nedbank Challenge debut in the 2015 tournament. He gets a R500 000 bonus, use of a Hyundai Palisade for a year, and international cruise courtesy of MSC Cruises. Van Tonder had the most birdies on tour (381) and most eagles (24), playing in 26 of the 27 tournaments.
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 105
MAY 2025
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