Willett captures Sun City prize

Cape Town - Briton Danny Willett landed six birdies and the biggest win of his career as he claimed the $1.25m first prize at the Nedbank Challenge following a faultless final round at Sun City on Sunday.

It is a second European Tour victory for the 27-year-old Englishman, who showed no sign of nerves to produce a final round 66, the best score of the day, for a tournament total of 18 under par and a four-shot win over compatriot Ross Fisher.

Willett and Fisher were part of an English trio that also included overnight leader Luke Donald, celebrating his 37th birthday, as the only realistic winners on Sunday.

Fisher, the leader after the first round, ended his tournament with a 68, equalling the second-best round of the day, but three bogeys in the first 10 holes saw Donald slip to third as he carded 73 to finish 12 under.

Really good win

"Words can't describe it, you hope that when you win you have a bit of breathing space coming to the last. I've only won one before and it was a five-hole play-off so it was a bit more nerve-wracking," Willett said at the presentation.

"We stuck to our game-plan, we said we were going to go aggressive and see if we could shoot another low score and put it out of reach for the other players. Luckily we did and it was a really good win."

If Willet did have any nerves, he did not show it as he built momentum with three birdies in his first five holes that opened up a four-shot lead that he never relinquished.

While Fisher and Donald battled with the course at times, Willett never looked troubled and three further birdies on the back nine cemented his win.

After his first European Tour victory at the BMW International Open in 2012, Willett proposed to his now wife Nicole.

Asked how he would top that, the Sheffield-born player said: "I don't know ... she can take a dive into this cheque!"

Final round scores in the Nedbank Golf Challenge supplied by AFP:
(GBR/IRL unless stated; par 72):

270 - Danny Willett 71 68 65 66

274 - Ross Fisher 66 70 70 68

276 - Luke Donald 71 63 69 73

279 - Marcel Siem (GER) 68 72 71 68

281 - Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA) 72 73 68 68

282 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 70 74 69 69

285 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 70 73 69 73, Tim Clark (RSA) 70 71 72 72, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 71 70 71 73, Jonas Blixt (SWE) 71 73 70 71

286 - Shane Lowry 72 72 71 71

287 - Stephen Gallacher 70 73 72 72, Brendon Todd (USA) 73 68 75 71

289 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 70 71 75 73, Tommy Fleetwood 74 67 74 74

290 - George Coetzee (RSA) 68 74 76 72, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) 73 71 71 75, Lee Westwood 72 70 78 70

291 - Brooks Koepka (USA) 70 74 75 72, Dawie Van Der Walt (RSA) 73 72 69 77

292 - Jaco Ahlers (RSA) 74 75 70 73, Martin Kaymer (GER) 74 75 71 72, Alexander Levy (FRA) 68 70 76 78

293 - Joost Luiten (NED) 72 74 73 74, Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 80 72 68 73

295 - Kevin Na (USA) 77 73 72 73, Marc Warren 75 73 71 76

298 - Mikko Ilonen (FIN) 76 78 72 72

301 - Danie Van Tonder (RSA) 77 78 76 70