Go back to Here for Her

Defending champ returns to ‘unbelievable South Africa’

02 December 2025 15:00
By:Michael Vlismas
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Johannes Veerman © Gallo Images

South Africans love to say, “Hulle weet nie wat ons weet nie”. But Johannes Veerman certainly knows.

As he returns to Sun City to defend his title in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player, the affable American spoke like a man returning to his second home.

“It feels amazing to be back. South Africa is unbelievable. It’s family driven, it’s an amazing sporting nation, and there’s an amazing zest for life here. The beauty is so raw. We’re playing a world-class venue this week, and then you’ve got Gary Player here, and he’s the GOAT. So everything added together makes this place incredibly special. To come back out and start a new 2026 season in an amazing country like this means a lot,” Veerman said at the Gary Player Country Club on Tuesday.

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Veerman enjoyed every minute of reliving the memories of his incredible victory in “Africa’s Major” last year, when he came from five strokes off the lead on the final day to win.

“I played the back nine first in my practice round because I knew we had the big grandstand and I just wanted to be back on 18 and relive that moment,” he said.

But the real clincher was his walk up to the ninth green.

“I was walking on the path with the names of all the past champions, and that one hit pretty good. The first time I played this golf course many years ago I remember seeing those names like Ballesteros, Westwood, Els, Goosen and all the names of the players that have won this tournament. Back then I thought, ‘Wow, this is an unbelievable list of champions’. So to walk down the ninth today and see my name as part of that – it hit me pretty hard.”

Veerman forms part of a quality field for this year’s tournament which also includes Viktor Hovland, Nick Taylor, Aldrich Potgieter, Francesco Molinari, Marco Penge, Haotong Li and Will Zalatoris.

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