Freddie Tait Cup winner Christiaan Maas left the course rather disappointed, while it was joy in abundance for Dylan Naidoo, who became the first player of colour to lift the Investec South African Open trophy at a drenched Durban Country Club with a playoff victory.
Naidoo and Englishman Laurie Canter were locked together at the top of the leaderboard on 14-under-par after three rounds and the biggest triumph of his career came after the fourth round was first suspended and then cancelled due to a flooded course.
Disappointingly for the second-oldest national open championship in golf, rather than pushing through for a Monday finish – especially since most of the DP World Tour players were going to stay in South Africa for next week’s Joburg Open – the pair were called back to the 18th for a sudden-death playoff.
In the end, only one extra trip along the closing hole at Durban Country Club was needed, with Naidoo hitting a stunning chip to within four feet. That put the pressure squarely on Canter, who had outdriven Naidoo by about 15 metres on the short 290-metre par-four.
That little bread-and-butter chip had earned Naidoo a slew of accolades on the amateur circuit, and the former GolfRSA National Squad member had perfected it since turning professional in 2019.
Canter overcooked his chip fractionally and was left with a putt from off the back of the green of about 15 feet, which he missed.
Every shot from the playoff between Laurie Canter and Dylan Naidoo 🎥#InvestecSAOpen pic.twitter.com/k0gcT12U8R
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) March 2, 2025
“The boys who play practice rounds with me know I do that all the time,” said Naidoo of the shot which all but secured the title for him. “I didn’t have a lot of fear on the shot. It was actually a really nice shot for me to have at that moment. I was more worried about the putt. That putter went back like a little squiggly worm.”
It didn’t matter how the putter went back; the forward motion sent the ball straight and true into the hole.
Naidoo buried his face in his hands as the enormity of is achievement began to hit home. “I don’t know what to say,” he said. “This comes after a lot of really difficult times, a lot of times that I thought I’d do this earlier in my career. For what this means in terms of Papwa Sewgolum, and him having won the Natal Open here, it’s incredible. I feel like he was with me here today This is a special moment for me, it’s a special moment for everybody here in Durban… it’s overwhelming.”
The moment when you clinch your first win on Tour 🥹#INvestecSAOpen pic.twitter.com/3nH4E5uQkV
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) March 2, 2025
His comment about the people of Durban was linked to Sewsunker ‘Papwa’ Sewgolum, the South African professional of ethnic Indian origin who came second in the 1961 SA Open to Retief Waltmann. In 1965, when he won the Natal Open for the second time, he was forced to accept the trophy outside Durban Country Club in the rain.
'FELT LIKE TIGER WOODS'
On Saturday, Naidoo was heartened by huge crowds who followed him and, on Sunday, cheered his victory in the rain at Durban Country Club to the rafters.
“I said yesterday it felt like I was Tiger Woods,” he said. “There were so many people. All the energy that I had, I can’t thank everyone enough for coming out, yesterday and today.”
In addition to winning one of the great titles in world golf and earning his DP World Tour card, he has qualified for the Open Championship. The top three players not otherwise exempt already punched their tickets to Royal Portrush in July.
With Canter already exempt, England’s Marco Penge and Darren Fichardt will join Naidoo in Ireland, with amateur Christiaan Maas and Branden Grace missing out despite sharing third with Fichardt because of Fichardt’s superior world ranking.
Dylan Naidoo, Marco Penge and Darren Fichardt have all qualified for The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush through the Investec South African Open Championship 🙌#InvestecSAOpen pic.twitter.com/JeZYCrbWUj
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) March 2, 2025
“It’s just been the best day ever,” gushed Naidoo. “I mean, I’m on the DP World Tour. That’s outrageous. I’m going to be playing around the world against some of the best players in the world. And I’m playing in The Open. It’s a dream.”
"I'm not normally lost for words but I am very lost for words right now. My head was spinning when I heard the news!"
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) March 2, 2025
Dylan Naidoo can't wait to make his Open Championship debut 💪#InvestecSAOpen pic.twitter.com/KG102hCTRl
Current GolfRSA National Squad member Maas was perhaps the most disappointed player in the field, despite winning the Freddie Tait Cup for the leading amateur in the South African Open for the second time to go with his 2022 triumph.
“I’m not really sure how to feel right now,” said Maas while receiving the trophy in the pouring morning rain. “I think knowing that I had won the Freddie Tait on Friday, or Saturday morning, I’d say I would have been happier if we’d played a little bit today. Especially after yesterday. I felt I played very well then, and I didn’t finish the way I wanted to.
“Standing here right now and knowing that it’s finished; knowing that if I had played the last two holes to the standard I know I can play on Saturday, I could probably have been in the lead, or somewhere close to it. It’s disappointing.”
Congratulations to @christiaanmaas1 on winning the 2025 Freddie Tait cup, awarded to the leading amateur player at the @InvestecSAOpen . 👏🏆
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) March 2, 2025
Maas is the second player since Neville Clarke (1991) to win this trophy more than once. #InvestecSAOpen pic.twitter.com/9VArAQS3J7
Maas had a shot at becoming the first amateur since Denis Hutchinson in 1959 to win the South African Open, but cutting the tournament to 54 holes denied him the opportunity to give it a shot – something that looked entirely realistic for the second and third rounds.
“It’s a massive honour to win the Freddie Tait, but, still, I’m disappointed we couldn’t play today. The Freddie Tait was already in the back of my head. After playing pretty well yesterday with Laurie Canter, who’s leading, I was hoping we could play today… or at least tomorrow.”
For Naidoo there is no such disappointment. He goes to the top of the Sunshine Order of Merit with just the Joburg Open and the two playoff events left on the schedule and there will be much more in store if he can hold on to that top spot.
© GolfRSA