As is so often the case in golf, it took one of the hardest years of Wilco Nienaber’s career in 2024 to give him absolute clarity about his golfing future, with the talented young South African having played his way on to the DP World Tour this season.

After coming through the grind of the European Challenge Tour and then the emotional rollercoaster of Qualifying School towards the end of 2024, Nienaber has taken that experience and added it to his five years of being a professional. He now believes he’s a more complete person inside and outside the ropes to make it all count in his favour.

“I’m proud of myself. I know I’m where I need to be now,” he says.

And he’s had to fight hard for this opportunity.

The facts will tell you that Nienaber spent a season on the Challenge Tour and then finished 42nd out of 46 players at the Grand Final in Spain in November. That meant he finished the season in 29th place on the Road to Mallorca Standings, outside the top 20 who automatically gained DP World Tour cards. “The Grand Final was anticlimactic for me,” he says.

He then went to Qualifying School for six agonising rounds of golf on the Lakes Course and Hills Course at Infinitum Golf in Spain, where he finished fourth – with a final round of 63 – to earn one of the 21 DP World Tour cards on offer for this season.

“My sister, who handles my logistics, told me she was entering me for Q-School just in case. I told her it’s fine but I’m not going. I’ve done Q-School twice and I didn’t want to do it again. On top of that, we only had 90 days out of 180 on our visa in Europe. So I had to miss a few Challenge Tour events in the lead-up to the Grand Final so that I didn’t overstay.

“You don’t want to have to do it all at the Grand Final. You would like to secure yourself before then. I was sitting on 88 days on the last day of the Grand Final, my 90 days reset the following Wednesday. So it worked out that I could play Q-School.”

Then came an opening 73 on a course he doesn’t enjoy. “On the 8th hole I said to my dad, who caddied for me, ‘I don’t want to be here.’ And he said, ‘Well, we’re here now.’ I was two over for two rounds on that course, and 24 under for four rounds on the other course. It wasn’t where I wanted to be, so when I made it I was very happy. I just didn’t see another year of playing on the Challenge Tour.”

With one victory at the 2021 Dimension Data Pro-Am under his belt, Nienaber is as hungry as ever to chase the career he knows he’s capable of.

“I’ve been a pro for five years, and I have asked myself whether I should’ve achieved more. But in truth, I have achieved a lot, maybe not in victories. The important thing has been not to lose myself out there. During Covid when nobody could travel with me, I spent seven months away and alone. That’s difficult. It’s just you and the hotel room. So I’ve definitely grown and learned a lot.”

It’s also given him a new perspective on how he wants to approach this new season.

“I want to get that balance right between understanding it’s a whole season, but also to approach every round like it’s the last one. In my brain, that works – if I can play like every tournament is my last one. I don’t feel older in age, but I feel older as a golfer. I’m learning to know what works for me and to find my balance and my game. I think that’s what Scottie Scheffler does so well on and off the course.

“I don’t want to be someone who’s only about golf, because there is also a life outside the sport. But I am absolutely in love with this game too.”

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