Daniel van Tonder is targeting a third HotelPlanner Tour victory of the season and subsequently automatic promotion to the DP World Tour as he prepares to tee it up in this week’s NTT DATA Pro Am at Fancourt Golf Estate.
The South African secured back-to-back victories at the opening two events of the 2025 Road to Mallorca season - the SDC Open and MyGolfLife Open hosted by Pecanwood Estate - and he is now hoping for a third win in just four weeks to secure his card on golf’s Global Tour.
The 12-time Sunshine Tour winner sits in pole position on both the Road to Mallorca Rankings and the Sunshine Tour’s Order of Merit and he was delighted to have made such a strong start to the year on home soil.
“I’m feeling confident at the moment and the plan is to attack again this week,” he said. “I know I can handle pressure and if I am faced with disappointments, I just dust myself off and get back up again. People are now starting to notice that self-belief that I have but I have been like that for my whole life.”
The NTT Data Pro-Am will be played across Fancourt Estate’s three courses – Outeniqua, Montagu and The Links – and van Tonder believes each course presents its own challenges.
“I’ve played this event for a few years now and all three courses that we play are phenomenal,” he said. “The greens are the best that we play on all year and each course is so different.
“I think the wind is blowing on Thursday so the draw that we get will play a big factor. The Links will be tough if it’s windy but I’m quite lucky that I can adapt and hit the ball both low and high when I need to.
“I enjoy playing with amateurs and it creates a fun and enjoyable environment. Hopefully I can get that third victory this week.”
Van Tonder would become the 15th HotelPlanner Tour player to win three or more titles in the same season to earn automatic promotion to the DP World Tour, with Englishman John Parry and Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen both achieving the feat in 2024.
A stellar field assembles in George this week for the fourth and final co-sanctioned tournament between the HotelPlanner Tour and Sunshine Tour in 2025, including 2014 Ryder Cup player Jamie Donaldson and DP World Tour winner’s Eddie Pepperell and James Morrison.
The NTT DATA Pro Am consists of two competitions; the stroke play for professionals only and the betterball medal for professionals partnering with amateurs. The NTT DATA Ladies' Pro-Am will also be taking place across the Montagu and the Outeniqua golf courses.
The first round will get under way at 6:45am local time, with van Tonder teeing it up alongside countryman George Coetzee at 11:13am on the Outeniqua.
