Nervous Hendrik strides to Q-School triumph

He said he’s never been more nervous during a round, but 18-year-old Hendrik du Plessis saved his best golf for last as a four-under-par 68 saw him win the 2015 Sunshine Tour Qualifying School.

He carded his fourth consecutive round in the 60s as he edged Justin Turner by a single stroke with his five-round aggregate of 15-under-par 345, with Zander Lombard and Rourke van der Spuy in joint third another shot further back. This was after two rounds at each of Bloemfontein and Schoeman Park Golf Clubs, with the final round after the cut being played at Bloemfontein Golf Club.

“I was nervous over my first tee shot on the first day,” said Du Plessis, “and then I was nervous throughout the round today. And when I saw the leaderboard on 17, I really started to nip.”

He needn’t have. He overcome the late-round wobble which nearly derailed him with bogeys on 10 and 15, after he had turned in three-under-par 33, with a good birdie on 17, and then he rolled in his birdie putt on the par-five 18th to match the low round of the day – Bryce Easton, England’s Henry Featherstone and Portugal’s Antonio Rosado also signed for 68s in gaining their Sunshine Tour cards.

Du Plessis plays out of Sesambos Golf Club in Limpopo, a 70-member club way up in the north of the country, but he spends a lot of his time at Serengeti Golf Estate under the tutelage of Doug Woods.

He signed away his amateur status late last year, but seemed unconcerned at the risks he was taking should he not have gained his Sunshine Tour card. “There is always the Sunshine Big Easy Tour, or some other professional events I could have played in,” he said.

Behind him and the others in second and third, Easton and Etienne Bond shared fifth, four shots off the pace, while Bryce Bibby was alone in seventh.

Sean Jacklin, son of the 1969 Open champion and 1970 US Open champion Tony Jacklin, also gained his card, finishing a good week with a 69 to share eighth with three other players, including the leading amateurs, Burger Heckroodt of the local club and Kevin Rundle of KwaZulu-Natal.

Other amateurs to gain their cards were Breyten Meyer and Tyron Roelofz.

Of the 33 players who gained their playing privileges, eight were from outside South Africa, including three from the United States. After Jacklin, who plays under the Scottish flag, Grant Doverspike of the US was the best of the foreign contingent, finishing 12th on eight-under-par.

The rookies will get their first shot at a Sunshine Tour event in February’s Dimension Data Pro-Am at Fancourt.

SCORES:

345 – Hendrik du Plessis (RSA) 70 69 69 69 68

346 - Justin Turner (RSA) 67 72 71 66 70

348 - Zander Lombard (RSA) 71 64 69 75 69, Rourke van der Spuy (RSA) 66 73 70 68 71

349 - Bryce Easton (RSA) 71 72 67 71 68, Etienne Bond (RSA) 68 73 68 67 73

350 - Bryce Bibby (RSA) 69 68 72 72 69

351 - Sean Jacklin (SCO) 69 76 70 67 69, Burger Heckroodt (AMA) (RSA) 73 70 65 72 71, Coert Groenewald (RSA) 70 68 70 71 72, Kevin Rundle (AMA) (RSA) 71 71 67 68 74

352 - Grant Doverspike (USA) 70 73 70 69 70

353 - Henry Featherstone (ENG) 73 70 69 73 68, Patrick Newcomb (USA) 68 72 75 67 71, MJ Viljoen (RSA) 72 71 70 69 71, Lean Boezaart (RSA) 74 69 69 69 72, Calvin Caldeira (RSA) 74 68 67 71 73

354 - Michael Scholz (RSA) 67 71 68 76 72, Otto van Greunen (RSA) 68 72 70 71 73, Breyten Meyer (AMA) (RSA) 76 69 67 68 74

355 - Gert Myburgh (RSA) 73 70 72 70 70, Jaco Prinsloo (RSA) 73 73 65 72 72, Werner van Niekerk (RSA) 68 72 70 73 72, Russel Franz (RSA) 70 72 69 72 72, Wayne De Haas (RSA) 78 71 68 66 72, Alex Gaugert (USA) 71 72 69 71 72, Alessandro Grammatica (ITA) 65 73 67 76 74

356 - Antonio Rosado (POR) 71 70 73 74 68

357 - Tyron Roelofsz (AMA) (RSA) 70 69 74 72 72, Grant Veenstra (RSA) 73 68 73 70 73, Nico Els (RSA) 74 74 71 67 71, Dongkwan Kim (KOR) 72 70 70 74 71, JeanPaul Strydom (RSA) 72 71 69 74 71

England on course for record sackings

More managers will be sacked in the Premier League and Football League than ever before if current trends continue, according to the League Managers Association's (LMA) quarterly report.

As of the end of December, 27 managers – more than a quarter of the Premier League and Football league's 92 clubs – had been dismissed from their clubs. The tally is three more than at the same stage last season.

A further seven managers resigned or departed by mutual consent.

"If the trend continues we are on course to exceed the total dismissal record of 46 set in 2006-2007," the LMA report stated.

"The managers dismissed so far this season have been in post for an average of only 1.04 years."

Premier League dismissals are down six from last season, however, as only Crystal Palace's Neil Warnock and West Bromwich Albion's Alan Irvine were sacked by the New Year.

Twelve clubs in the Championship (second tier) dismissed managers up to December 31, with the average tenure of current managers in the division standing at an alarming 0.82 years.

Leeds United are on their third permanent manager of the season having appointed Neil Redfearn in November after the sackings of David Hockaday and Darko Milanic.

Five managers were sacked in League One (third tier) and eight in League Two (fourth tier).

Arsenal's Arsene Wenger remains the longest serving current manager at 18.26 years, while West Ham United's Sam Allardyce is the second longest serving Premier League manager at 3.5 years.

Queens Park Rangers boss Harry Redknapp, who has spent time in charge of West Ham, Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur, holds the record for most games managed by a current manager at 1 383 matches.

Wawrinka and a selfie to remember

Stan Wawrinka is true to his word.

Last year, after winning the Australian Open, he vowed that upon his return in 2015 he would go straight to the corridor in Rod Laver Arena known as the Walk of Champions, to take a picture of himself standing beside his larger-than-life image on the wall.

And that is what Wawrinka did. He took a selfie.

"When I came back the first time here in the locker room, I had all the big memories from last year," Wawrinka said Saturday, after cruising to his third straight sets victory with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Jarkko Nieminen. "I came to see my picture and to take a picture with me with myself over there.

"That's the best feeling. To see my picture over there with all these amazing champions," said the 29-year-old Swiss, who has spent most of his career in the shadow of countryman Roger Federer.

Wawrinka is the defending champion, but he does not want to dwell on it - even though he enters post-match news conferences in a bright red T-shirt provided by his sponsor that says "Stan the Man".

He remains today, as he was right after his victory, more subdued than overjoyed when he talks about winning his first Grand Slam title. He gives the impression of a man who does not want to jinx his success by talking about it.

"My focus is on the tournament this year. I'm not thinking about last year," Wawrinka said. "I had some amazing memories last year, for sure. But it's really important to stay on what's happened today, and what's going to happen tomorrow."

In a news conference earlier in the week, Wawrinka said his approach was "to start at zero again," to try to wipe out thoughts that could prove distracting.

But to briefly revisit the past, Wawrinka's triumph last year included beating the then three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals and then No 1-ranked Rafael Nadal in the final, despite having never beaten either of them before. As a result, he rose to a career-high ranking of No 3.

This year, Wawrinka is ranked No 4 and could meet Djokovic in the semifinals and face another final against Nadal, who has returned from injuries in a determined bid for the title.

No 6 Andy Murray, seeking his third Grand Slam trophy, is another possible opponent for the final.

As the Australian Open heads into its second week, the spotlight remains riveted on the top players still in the draw. The surprise third-round loss of No 2 Roger Federer means that only three of the so-called Big Four are still in contention.

Some high-profile observers, like Serena Williams, say Wawrinka cannot be overlooked.

"Stan is playing well. He's kind of flying under the radar," said Williams, who nonetheless says Murray is her favourite to win.

Keeping a low-profile suits Wawrinka fine.

"For sure, I'm not the focus. For me it doesn't matter," he said. "I'm feeling great. I'm happy the way I'm playing. To get to the second week again, it's great. So far, everything is good for me."

On Monday in the fourth round, Wawrinka has a score to settle against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who beat him in the first round of last year's French Open.

"That was a tough loss, that's for sure," he said. "It will be nice to play him again in a Grand Slam - here."

American foursome into fourth round

Top seed Serena Williams and her older sister Venus led a foursome of American women into the Australian Open fourth round on Saturday, while men's top seed Novak Djokovic survived a nervous start to overcome a feisty Fernando Verdasco.

It is the first time four women from the traditional tennis powerhouse, which has relied on the Williams sisters for much of their grand slam success in the past decade, have made the last 16 at a major since Roland Garros in 2013.

The sisters were joined in the last 16 by the two Madisons - Brengle and Keys - who will play each other - with the 19-year-old Keys upsetting twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-4 7-5 in the last match of the day.

"I think my hands are still shaking," said Keys, who is coached by former No 1 Lindsay Davenport. "I'm excited to play Maddie in the next round."

Twice champion Victoria Azarenka also advanced after a 6-4 6-4 victory over 25th seed Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and will now meet last year's beaten finallist Dominika Cibulkova.

FEDERER SHADOW

With Roger Federer's surprise exit on Friday still hanging over the tournament, the men's favourites had some nervous moments in their third round clashes on Saturday.

Djokovic was forced into a first set tiebreak by former top-10 player Verdasco, while fifth seed Kei Nishikori also dropped the first set tiebreak before he beat Steve Johnson.

Johnson and 19th-seed John Isner, who was beaten by Luxembourg's Gilles Muller, were the last American men in the singles competition, though North America will be represented in the fourth round by Canada's Milos Raonic.

Djokovic's match, which was temporarily halted before the third set as Verdasco took a timeout, did have another distraction with a marriage proposal in the stands that the world No 1 applauded when the woman accepted.

"I'm sure he was very happy when she said yes," a smiling Djokovic said. "It's nice to see this moment."

Men's champion Stan Wawrinka, pleased to be out of the glare of many people, also continued his quiet progression with a clinical victory over tricky lefthander Jarkko Nieminen.

"I'm not the focus on the tournament because there's Novak, Rafa coming back from injury, Roger also just lost, there's Kyrgios, Tomic still playing," Wawrinka said.

"For me, doesn't matter."

OMINOUS PORTENT

While Azarenka continues to lurk as a danger to anyone in the top half of the draw, an ominous portent developed over the rest of the women's field with the Williams' sisters success.

The last time the siblings reached the last 16 at Melbourne Park, Serena went on to win her fifth Australian Open title.

It was also the last time the 18-times grand slam winner lifted the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.

The world No 1 beat Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 4-6 6-2 6-0, while 18th seed Venus also needed a set to get going before she beat Italy's Camila Giorgi 4-6 7-6(3) 6-1 to make her first grand slam fourth round sinceWimbledon in 2011.

"That feels fantastic especially when things happen in your life that are not in your control," said Venus, who struggles with Sjogren's syndrome, an auto-immune disease that can cause joint pain and fatigue.

"But I don't want to stop now, I want to keep it going.

"This little cat has a few tricks up her sleeve."

The 34-year old will now meet women's sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska who also continued her largely untroubled progress with a 6-0 7-5 win over another American Varvara Lepchenko, while Serena will play the enigmatic Garbine Muguruza.

The hard-hitting Spaniard beat Serena last year in the second round at Roland Garros and the tall right hander said that victory, while a 'perfect game', was not a factor on the Melbourne hard courts.

"I think I don't have nothing to lose," the 21-year-old said. "Just another match, same game, same concentration.

"Nothing new. ... I don't think I have pressure."

Rosberg expects title duel with Hamilton

Nico Rosberg expects another Formula One title duel with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton but no challenge from fellow-German former champion Sebastian Vettel who is now at Ferrari.

Rosberg told Saturday's Bild daily that he is highly optimistic ahead of the season starting on 15 March in Australia, after three rounds of testing beginning on 1 February.

"I am fully optimistic and believe it will be a duel with Lewis against me again," Rosberg said.

Mercedes totally dominated the 2014 season in which Hamilton beat Rosberg for his second career world title. Mercedes also won the constructors' list, ahead of Red Bull, surprise team Williams and Ferrari.

Rosberg named Red Bull and Williams big rivals again but doesn't believe that Ferrari can turn around their fortunes despite getting the four-time champion Vettel from Red Bull.

Rosberg said changes can't be achieved overnight, as he knows at Mercedes who struggled for several years before their breakthrough. Ferrari have not won a race since summer 2013, their last constructors' title was 2008 and the last drivers' title (from Kimi Raikkonen) 2007.

"I don't want to appear arrogant but if I go by the 2014 results I can risk it all and say no to a Ferrari challenge although one should never fully write them off," Rosberg said.

"Sebastian will see my taillights on many occasions," Rosberg vowed.

Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire out to make amends

Heavyweight contenders Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire will try to forget mediocre starts to the African Nations Cup when they play their second Group D matches later on Saturday.

Cote d'Ivoire take on Mali at the Nuevo Estadio de Malabo before Cameroon meet Guinea at the same venue.

The first two group matches ended 1-1 with Cameroon coming from behind against Mali and the Ivorians, despite being down to 10 men, holding Guinea.

Striker Gervinho will be missing for the Elephants as he starts a two-match ban for the red card he received for retaliation against Guinea.

Captain Stephane Mbia returns for Cameroon after completing a suspension picked up in qualifying but his deputy Enoh Eyong is still out with injury.

On Friday, Senegal went top of Group C after a 1-1 draw with South Africa while Ghana beat Algeria 1-0 thanks to a late goal from Asamoah Gyan.

Grace claims the Qatar Masters

South African Branden Grace became the first player to win multiple events in the 2015 Race to Dubai after he held his nerve to win the Qatar Masters in Doha on Saturday.

Grace fired a bogey-free, six-under-par 66 to finish the tournament on 19-under, one shot clear of Scotland's Marc Warren (67) and two ahead of Austrian Bernd Wiesberger (68).

Tied at 18-under-par as they approached the 18th tee, Grace held his nerve with a birdie while Warren could only salvage par after his wayward tee-shot failed to find the fairway.

"It was a great day, a great week, and it's another trophy to put in the cupboard," Grace told the europeantour.com.

"The form has been there, I played great and I managed to get in on top."

Grace, who claimed his sixth career title and second in four starts this season, followed up a first-hole birdie with 10 successive pars before going five-under through the final seven holes.

Having shot birdies on the 12th and 14th, the 26-year-old carded a superb eagle on the 16th after a crushing tee-shot.

A second eagle nearly followed on the 18th but his sublime pitch shot tricked agonisingly wide.

Grace holed the three-foot putt for birdie while Warren failed with his 20-foot effort to force a playoff.

Warren's superb five-under-par back nine had helped him back into contention after an inconsistent front nine which yielded a bogey and double-bogey alongside three birdies.

World No 2 Henrik Stenson finished on 10-under-par while defending champion Sergio Garcia was well off the pace a further six shots adrift on four-under.

The Race to Dubai is the European Tour's season-long competition spanning 47 tournaments and was won by Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy in 2014.

FINAL SCORES

269 Branden Grace (South Africa) 67 68 68 66

270 Marc Warren (Britain) 71 65 67 67

271 Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) 69 66 68 68

272 Eddie Pepperell (Britain) 69 71 65 67

273 An Byeong-Hun (South Korea) 67 69 72 65, Emiliano Grillo (Argentina) 67 69 67 70, Gregory Bourdy (France) 70 68 70 65

274 Alejandro Canizares (Spain) 67 70 68 69

275 Alexander Noren (Sweden) 67 71 72 65

276 Oliver Fisher (Britain) 65 73 69 69, Benjamin Hebert (France) 72 68 69 67

277 George Coetzee (South Africa) 68 67 70 72

278 Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 70 73 67 68, Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) 73 70 67 68, Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 70 71 71 66, Magnus Carlsson (Sweden) 71 69 70 68, Johan Carlsson (Sweden) 74 65 69 70, Justin Rose (Britain) 68 73 69 68

279 Andy Sullivan (Britain) 71 68 70 70, Julien Quesne (France) 70 72 69 68, Anders Hansen (Denmark) 71 69 70 69, Seve Benson (Britain) 70 71 69 69

280 Tommy Fleetwood (Britain) 73 65 74 68, Felipe Aguilar (Chile) 71 68 72 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 69 73 69 69, Alvaro Quiros (Spain) 70 70 72 68, Ernie Els (South Africa) 67 72 70 71, Darren Fichardt (South Africa) 67 70 71 72 , Matthew Baldwin (Britain) 70 68 70 72

281 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (France) 70 70 69 72, Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina) 69 70 73 69, Ross Fisher (Britain) 70 70 73 68

282 Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 71 71 67 73, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 66 73 70 73, Edoardo Molinari (Italy) 71 70 70 71, Stephen Gallacher (Britain) 68 75 72 67, Kristoffer Broberg (Sweden) 67 71 72 72

283 Shiv Kapur (India) 70 68 72 73, Brett Rumford (Australia) 69 72 73 69, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand) 68 71 75 69, Thomas Pieters (Belgium) 73 68 68 74, Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 70 70 73 70, Thomas Aiken (South Africa) 69 73 72 69, Renato Paratore (Italy) 69 69 70 75, Richard Green (Australia) 70 67 76 70

284 Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 70 68 73 73, Maximilian Kieffer (Germany) 71 68 73 72, Dawie Van der Walt (South Africa) 72 69 70 73 , Paul Lawrie (Britain) 67 73 73 71, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 69 69 77 69, James Morrison (Britain) 68 70 75 71

285 Michael Hoey (Britain) 71 69 74 71, Mark Foster (Britain) 67 73 70 75, Andrew Johnston (Britain) 69 73 72 71, Jason Barnes (Britain) 72 70 72 71, Edouard Espana (France) 70 73 70 72, Tom Lewis (Britain) 72 71 69 73

286 Damien McGrane (Ireland) 68 72 74 72, Gregory Havret (France) 70 69 75 72, Eduardo De La Riva (Spain) 70 69 72 75, Peter Uihlein (U.S.) 69 73 71 73

287 Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 70 73 73 71, Jorge Campillo (Spain) 72 70 73 72, Mark Tullo (Chile) 69 74 73 71

288 Moritz Lampert (Germany) 67 74 77 70, Scott Jamieson (Britain) 68 73 72 75, Jake Roos (South Africa) 75 68 72 73

289 Matthew Nixon (Britain) 72 71 74 72, Adrian Otaegui (Spain) 73 70 73 73

290 Richard Finch (Britain) 71 72 75 72, Paul Waring (Britain) 70 72 76 72

293 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Britain) 68 71 77 77, Wade Ormsby (Australia) 74 69 71 79

294 Mikko Korhonen (Finland) 73 70 77 74