Veerman back to beat the heat

NEDBANK CHALLENGE: AMERICAN OUT TO DEFEND TITLE

- Jacques van der Westhuyzen

American Johannes Veerman is back at Sun City this week to try successfully defend the Nedbank Golf Challenge title he won in surprising fashion last year and he can expect plenty of competition from a number of golfers, including a bunch of South Africans.

The last local to win “Africa’s Major” was Branden Grace in 2017 and since then it’s been Lee Westwood (2018), Tommy Fleetwood (2019 and 2022), Max Homa (2023) and Veerman last year. There were no tournaments in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid.

Before Grace’s win, the last other South African to go all the way at Sun City was Trevor Immelman in 2007.