Staff WriterThere are Sundays in golf that feel like a polite handshake, and then there are Sundays that feel like a small, controlled robbery in broad daylight. At the Cell C Challenge, Zimbabwe’s Benjamin Follett-Smith nicked the trophy with the sort of late flourish that leaves everyone else checking their pockets—doing it in front of Gary Player himself at Killarney Country Club.
Starting the final round three shots behind leader Haydn Porteous, Follett-Smith produced a magnificent charge and signed for a closing 66 to win by a single stroke on 15 under par. Matthew Crisswell, Follett-Smith’s caddie, received a Sunshine Tour medallion as the winning caddie.
Porteous had a 10-foot birdie putt on the last to force a playoff which he missed, settling for second place on 14 under par with a final round of 70. Kieron van Wyk finished third on 11 under par with a closing 70.
It was a remarkable victory by Follett-Smith that was built around his front nine of three birdies and an eagle, and which gave him the luxury of a bogey-bogey finish to still claim the title. That’s golf for you: spend hours trying to be perfect, then win while making two bogeys at the end—like arriving at a black-tie dinner with your bow tie crooked and still being crowned best dressed.
Follett-Smith’s story of the day, though, was written early—inked boldly with a front-nine burst that changed the entire mood of the tournament. “The first nine went my way. As golf is, when it’s going your way it seems easy. I did exactly what I wanted to do for every shot on that front nine.
I made a good putt for birdie on the 10th so I thought it was going to continue, but the back nine was tough towards the end. I made a few silly errors coming in. Hitting it right of 17 was a rookie error for sure and finishing bogey-bogey wasn’t what I wanted to do. Luckily it was good enough so I’m very pleased,” said Follett-Smith.
That candour is part of the charm. Golfers will happily tell you it’s a game of fine margins—then they’ll also tell you they made a “rookie error” while leading, which is the professional equivalent of announcing you’ve reversed into your own driveway gate. Yet even with the wobble late on, Follett-Smith had created just enough breathing room to withstand Porteous’s final push.
And make no mistake, Porteous did push. The math was simple: one more birdie at the last, and we’d have had extra holes and extra nerves. Instead, the 10-footer slipped by, and the Cell C Challenge had its champion.
For Follett-Smith, the timing feels more than convenient—it feels strategic, like a man showing up to the party precisely when the music gets good. This is his first victory since 2024 and following what he says was a somewhat frustrating 2025.
“It’s just been hard work and practice. I didn’t get too much out of my game last year. I was a bit stuck playing the HotelPlanner Tour and DP World Tour, but I kept coming back home to the Sunshine Tour as a great platform to play. The events here are awesome and world-class in terms of how they’re run. It’s awesome to be in the winner’s circle again and to guarantee my playing rights here.”
That “platform” line matters. The Sunshine Tour has long been the sort of proving ground that turns promise into paydays, and Follett-Smith is now carrying momentum into a particularly useful stretch of the calendar.
Follett-Smith’s rise in form is also perfect timing as the Sunshine Tour now moves into four weeks of co-sanctioned tournaments with the HotelPlanner Tour and then two weeks of co-sanctioned tournaments with the DP World Tour.
If you’re a golfer looking for a runway, that’s not a bad one—four weeks of opportunity followed by two more, with stronger fields, bigger stakes and the kind of pressure that either sharpens your game or bends it into modern art.
Then there’s the detail that makes this week feel like a story rather than merely a result: the presence of Gary Player. Not a cut-out. Not a ceremonial wave. The Black Knight was there, watching it unfold, and Follett-Smith—understandably—looked like a man who’d just been handed a masterclass with his trophy.
And the Zimbabwean was also delighted to win in front of Gary Player. “It’s the second time I’ve met Mr Player and it’s an honour. He’s one of the best golfers to every live and to have a few minutes to chat to him and hear his advice is something else.”
You can almost hear the echo of it: a rising winner, a legendary witness, and a tournament that did exactly what good events do—served up drama without begging for it. The Cell C Challenge didn’t need a playoff to feel decisive. It had a chase, a charge, a wobble, and a missed putt that will replay in a player’s mind somewhere around 3 a.m. for the next week.
But it also had a champion who, for one sparkling front nine, made this maddening sport look like the easiest thing in the world.
