Nedbank Golf Challenge and Mayakoba Golf Classic Recaps

Nedbank Golf Challenge

Tommy Fleetwood divides his time between the PGA and European Tours. And pretty equally at that. There aren't many golfers who do that, but those who do almost always play the biggest tournaments on both tours while skipping the weak ones. When you combine the toughest fields with the most travel, it is both grueling and impressive.

And when you consider that Fleetwood had made 40 straight worldwide cuts heading into last week, well, it was all that more remarkable. But as consistent as Fleetwood had been, he hadn't been great. His world ranking was tumbling perilously close to outside the top-20 in the world, and he hadn't actually won a tournament in almost two years.

That all changed Sunday in Sun City, South Africa, where Fleetwood came from six shots off the lead to start the final round to capture the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player in a playoff over Sweden's Marcus Kinhult.

By winning the Rolex Series event and the biggest winner's share in European Tour history at $2.5 million U.S., the Englishman now heads to this week's European Tour finale, the DP World Tour Championship, with a chance to win the season-long Race to Dubai for the second time in three years.

Fleetwood now trails only Austria's resurgent Bernd Wiesberger in the standings, with Spain's Jon Rahm right behind him. Wiesberger wound up tied for third in the Nedbank. Third-round leader Zander Lombard of South Africa tumbled into a tie for eighth by shooting 77, to Fleetwood's 65.

The comeback win was Fleetwood's first victory since the very first week of 2018 in Abu Dhabi. Sun City was his fifth European Tour title. He's never won on the PGA Tour, which also means, of course, that he's never won a major. Fleetwood came his closest just a few months back by finishing runner-up to Shane Lowry in the Open Championship.

That turned around what had been a subpar year for someone of Fleetwood's caliber, at least in the majors. He finished outside the top-25 in the first three of 2019. A tie for 65th at the U.S. Open dropped Fleetwood to 20th in the OWGR, his lowest standing since mid-2017.

But now Fleetwood will move to No. 10 in the world, one spot off his career best.

He's clearly shown he can be an elite golfer in Europe. To be considered among the best handful in the world, he doesn't have to really win a PGA Tour event. But he does have to win a major. He'd come close even before Royal Portrush, finishing second at the U.S. Open in 2018 and fourth the year before.

When a golfer is still only 28 and has two runners-up in majors and another top-five, it's not a big stretch to believe a major victory is in his future.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Marcus Kinhult
The 23-year-old Swede is another rising European who has now moved inside the top-100 in the world with his runner-up at Sun City. Kinhult already won earlier this year at the British Masters, a tournament coincidentally hosted by Fleetwood. Kinhult's other claim to fame, at least where U.S. golf fans may be concerned, is that he shot the best round of the day in the final round of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach back in June, a 66 that moved him into a tie for 32nd. Definitely keep your eye on Kinhult.

Jason Day
There was a bit of discussion on Twitter the other day: Why doesn't Day catch as much grief for his free-fall as another former No. 1, Jordan Spieth, does?  It's a fair question. Day added to his slide by missing the cut at the Mayakoba Golf Classic on Saturday. And he missed it by a lot. Day began the week at No. 29 in the world and should find himself outside the top-30 once the rain-delayed tournament ends on Monday. His last win was the Wells Fargo in May 2018. That's a bit better than Spieth's drought. But it's safe to say that neither one-time elite golfer is elite right now. Frankly, it seems Spieth has a better chance to return to glory. Day's most pressing issue right now is playing well in next month's Presidents Cup. He couldn't even qualify on points; he had to be a captain's pick. Of course, Ernie Els had to pick Day, but there's some question whether the decision will pay off.

Viktor Hovland
It was bound to happen – Hovland missed his first cut as a pro, one shot from making it through at Mayakoba. The young Norwegian had been showing signs of slipping in recent events – outside the top-30 in both South Korea and Japan. After a year that began at Oklahoma State and moved onto major events and turning pro, Hovland might very well be gassed. And understandably so. We don't know his schedule for the rest of the year, but it would be prudent for him to shut it down till the PGA Tour resumes after New Year's.

Mayakoba Golf Classic

Brendon Todd won the Mayakoba Golf Classic on Monday. That's the same Brendon Todd who won the Bermuda Championship two weeks ago. That's the same Brendon Todd who began 2019 ranked in the 2000s in the world rankings (yes, that's three zeros there). And, yes, that's the same Brendon Todd, whose game began to fall into oblivion after winning the 2014 Byron Nelson Classic.

Todd's victory at the opposite-field Bermuda completed a turnaround that had been virtually unfathomable. To add another win in the very next start is off-the-charts bonkers.

We often hear of golfers getting putting yips or even chipping yips. But Todd experienced full-swing yips. He won the Nelson in May 2014, putting on track to crack the top-50 OWGR later in the year. In 2016, however, he missed 23-of-25 cuts and plummeted out of the top-500 (yes, that's a second zero there.)

Todd played only 16 tournaments in 2017 and '18 combined. But he started showing signs earlier this year – when he could get into a field. A top-20 at the Wells Fargo, another at the John Deere. Then a runner-up in a Korn Ferry playoff event and, voila, he was back on the PGA Tour.

But nobody could envision what was coming. 

And now you ask yourself (or us): What does this mean for Todd going forward? Well, he's back inside the top-90 in the world and Monday's win got him into the Masters (but not the U.S. Open.) We hate to be party-poopers here, but we don't expect greatness from Todd in 2020. He'll be around through at least 2023 now, and he's clearly showing he has game. Just don't expect a climb into the game's elite. Cracking the top-50 would be a huge achievement.

Brandon Wu
The Stanford grad who recently turned pro tied for 55th. That comes on the heels of a tie for 17th at Houston last month. Wu doesn't have a card, so his sponsor invites will be limited. But he's showing the ability to makes cuts – he also tied for 35th at the U.S. Open in June – and should be a low-price consideration for your lineup.

Calum Hill
What was a 25-year-old Scotsman who toils mainly on the Challenge Tour doing at a PGA Tour event? Well, Hill went to New Mexico, where he gained a connection to the Mayakoba tournament and was granted a sponsor invite. He made the most of it, tying for 49th. This is only Hill's second year playing OWGR-sanctioned events, and he's up to 117th in the world. We probably won't see him back stateside for a while, until maybe the U.S. Open if he qualifies. But he's just another young Euro to stash in your back pocket for now.

Chris Kirk
Kirk returned to golf with a tie for 33rd at Mayakoba, and it had to feel like a victory. You see, Kirk hadn't played since the RBC Heritage back in April, having realized he had an alcohol problem and needed help. Kirk is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour and was ranked as high as No. 16 OWGR. So he obviously had a lot of game. But he hasn't won since 2015, had fallen into the 160s in the spring and is in the 300s now. But if last week is any indication, we will be seeing lots more of Kirk's sweet swing.

Matt Kuchar
He didn't successfully defend his title. Maybe the pressure of returning to where there was so much caddie-controversy a year ago was too great. But Kuchar did shoot 62 in the final round. But not even that was good enough for one of his patented backdoor top-10s. Close though! Kuchar tied for 14th.