Player Profile

“As a South African, you always know your career is headed in the right direction
if you have a tee time at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.”

Daniel van Tonder was the first South African to be confirmed for this year’s Nedbank Golf Challenge, in honour of Gary Player.

The 34-year-old Van Tonder booked his place in “Africa’s Major” by winning the Sunshine Tour Courier Guy Order of Merit last season.

The winner of 14 tournaments will make his second appearance in the Nedbank Golf Challenge following his debut in 2014, where he finished 29th.

The Nedbank Golf Challenge holds fond memories for Van Tonder because it was on his debut in this event that he proposed to his now wife, Abigail. Last year the two of them celebrated the birth of their first child, a girl named Gabriella Grace.

The couple also met at a golf tournament. In December 2013, Abigail was working at a coffee station on the driving range at the Nelson Mandela Championship at Mount Edgecombe when Van Tonder bought a coffee from her.

Van Tonder has an unorthodox swing that has proved highly effective, and he enjoys nothing more than to attack a golf course. He also loves the Gary Player Country Club course, having won the 2021 South African Open here.

Despite his carefree nature, he remains one of the hardest working professionals in the game and a ruthless competitor when near the lead.

“I work hard and don’t like taking off days. I’ve never had a coach and everything I do is self-taught. Whatever feels right I try and do. But I believe I can be the best,” he says.