By ,
Published January 08, 2015
Sun City, South Africa (SportsNetwork.com) - Danny Willett fired a final- round, 6-under 66 on Sunday and he coasted to a 4-shot victory at the Nedbank Golf Challenge for his second career win on the European Tour.
Willett, who began the day one shot behind the third-round leader Luke Donald, finished the week at 18-under-par 270. Willett's first victory came at the 2012 BMW International Open.
"Words can't really describe," Willett said. "Fantastic week. Fantastic year. A great way to top it off. Again, it's struggling for words. It's just overwhelming, really."
First-round leader Ross Fisher shot a 4-under 68 at Gary Player Country Club and that propelled him to a runner-up finish at 14-under 274.
Donald, celebrating his 37th birthday Sunday, struggled a bit in his final round and he finished alone in third place at 12-under 276 following a 1-over 73.
Marcel Siem was the next-closest finisher to the trio of Englishmen atop the leaderboard. Siem carded a 68 to end alone in fourth at 9-under 279. Kiradech Aphibarnrat (68) finished in fifth at 7-under 281, while Miguel Angel Jimenez (69) ended in sixth at minus-6.
Playing in the final pairing with Donald and Fisher, Willett pulled even with Donald early on with a birdie on the par-5 second. On the next hole, Willett made his second consecutive gain and Donald dropped a shot with a bogey, and just like that Willett had a 2-shot lead.
The same thing happened again on No. 5 as Willett drained his third birdie of the day, while Donald tripped to another bogey, putting Willett's advantage at four shots. Donald got back to within three with a birdie on No. 6.
After a pair of pars, Donald moved back to even-par on the day with a birdie on nine, pulling to within two of Willett.
In the meantime, Fisher was still in the mix. Fisher made birdies on two and four early on, but those were canceled out with back-to-back bogeys on five and six. However, Fisher got back on track with three straight birdies from eight to get to minus-13.
Willett extended his lead back to three with another gain on 10 and Donald dropped out of second place and down to minus-12 with a bogey on the same hole. Willett's advantage was again stretched to four when Fisher bogeyed No. 11, putting him even with Donald at minus-12.
A Fisher gain on 13 had him at minus-13 and all three players in the final pairing went on to birdie the 14th, keeping Willett up by three shots.
While Fisher went on to par his final four holes and Donald made a trio of pars from 15 and closed with a bogey at the last, Willett used a birdie at No. 17 to extend his lead back to four heading to the final hole. Willett knocked his approach onto the green on 18 and two-putted for par and the victory.
"We just went out there and played aggressive," said Willett. "We came out of the blocks pretty quick and gave ourselves a little bit of a cushion. It was tight around the turn with Ross birdieing nine and 10. Again, we kept hitting good golf shots."
NOTES: Fisher has five career wins on tour, while Donald has seven, with the last one coming at the 2012 BMW PGA Championship ... Of the 29 players remaining in the field Sunday, only five of them shot in the 60s ... Willett earned 864,976 euros for the victory ... This was the first event of the European Tour's 2014-15 season. The tour will remain in South Africa again next week for the Alfred Dunhill Championship, where Charl Schwartzel won by four shots last year on his home soil.
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