Golf

Martin Kaymer stands in front of Shane Lowry’s Sun City hopes

A win would be Irish golfer's first European Tour title since the 2012 Portugal Masters

Shane Lowry of Ireland in action during a practise round for the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club on Wednesday. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Shane Lowry of Ireland in action during a practise round for the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club on Wednesday. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Wed Dec 03 2014 - 18:42

Off-the-back of 13 straight cuts, posting five top-10 finishes, and cementing his place within the world's top 50, Shane Lowry is in as good a position as ever heading into the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa, this week.

Surely it’s only a mater of time before the Irish man, now ranked 47th in the world after his 10th placed finish in the Race to Dubai last month, goes on to win what will be his first European Tour title since the 2012 Portugal Masters.

Less than a fortnight after that drama unfolded, with an announced engagement nested in between, and Lowry goes at it once more.

Amongst his main competitors, all looking to finish off a long year on a high, is US Open champion Martin Kaymer.

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Kaymer factor

The German, who won his second major at Pinehurst in June, is actually starting out on the 2015 European Tour schedule in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa, this week.

But after some time off following the season-finale DP World Tour Championship last month, Kaymer is back for two tournaments before taking a well-earned break.

“It has been a long season, probably the longest I’ve ever played,” said the 29-year-old, who also helped Europe retain the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in September.

“After Dubai I didn’t hit a golf ball until this morning when I warmed up for the pro-am.

“There won’t be much practice this week as it’s just about conserving energy. When I play on Thursday I’m not going to be tired on the golf course.

“Once the tournament starts, there’s no problem with motivation. Of course you want to play and you want to win.

“I’ve got one more tournament after this and then I’ll be heading home to Germany for a good break. It’s been years since I spent Christmas in Germany so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Important tournament

Kaymer won this event, which comprises 30 players from the European Tour, PGA Tour, Sunshine Tour, Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia plus the top five South Africans in the world rankings, a year before it became part of the main schedule.

He will look to draw on that experience in the hope of getting the new season off to a good start.

“I know the golf course well and I won here in 2012, so there are a lot of positive memories,” he told europeantour.com.

“It’s an important tournament and it would be nice to make a strong start to the 2015 campaign but it’s also the end of a long year and you want to enjoy it a little bit.”

Also in the field are Kaymer’s Ryder Cup team-mates Thomas Bjorn, who is the defending champion, Jamie Donaldson, Stephen Gallacher and Lee Westwood.