One of South Africa’s best young golf prospects – Zander Lombard – is on the brink of big things, writes ZANDER LOMBARD.
When a top competitor says their approach to their sport is all about process, it conjures up images of an almost robotic attitude.
In golf it would probably mean a manner of playing every shot as part of a set procedure or method based on a technique that has been drummed into every muscle through repetition.
But while Zander Lombard, who finished 2019 as South Africa’s best under-25 golfer, talks a lot about sticking to his processes, inside that broad chest beats a heart deeply in love with the game and especially
its vagaries.
So what does Lombard love most about golf?
‘That you never know what’s going to happen. You can feel great one day and still shoot 80, but another day you can feel lousy and shoot 65. It’s so unpredictable. Golf is not an exact science, even though Bryson DeChambeau tries to make it look like it is. For me, golf is more of an art form; it’s all about judgement, a constant challenge in which every shot is different,’ Lombard says.
The 26-year-old DeChambeau majored in physics at university and is known as ‘The Scientist’ on the PGA Tour. He wants to eliminate all ‘feel’ from his game and is obsessed with data – be that the barometric pressure on the course or even the sap content of the grass, never mind which species it is.
Not that Lombard eschews rigorous practice or the help of science. He has been at the High Performance Centre
at the University of Pretoria since he was 15. And he credits the work he puts in off the course for the progress he made in 2019, rising 219 places to 190 in the World Ranking, winning the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, finishing 59th in Europe and contending strongly at two of the prestigious Rolex Series events – the Irish Open and the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
‘I had a good building year in 2019. It’s all about process, process and I’ve now got one that works for me. So I stick to it and I just have to keep doing what I’m doing until I’m doing it great. So for 2020 it will be more of the same, maybe just a couple of changes, and then I believe I will get that “W” sooner rather than later,’ Lombard says.
For someone who seemingly has all the ingredients to win golf tournaments – length off the tee, excellent irons and a good short game – it is becoming one of South African golf’s great mysteries that Lombard has won only once, at the 2018 Vodacom Origins of Golf event at Zebula, in a professional career that began in 2014.
‘It’s like a sneeze, it just happens; you can’t really plan for it. You can’t force it, I believe a win will come to you when it’s time. Until then you just have to put yourself in position to win, which I’ve done. So now it’s about doing more of the same, just keep plodding along,’ Lombard says.
The fact the Pretoria golfer is so highly rated despite his win record speaks to his consistency and potential. The raw material is there to win, so perhaps it is his approach under pressure on the closing nine that needs to be examined. Like many youngsters, Lombard likes to play bold, aggressive golf, which can at times be at odds with the consistency he is striving to achieve. But he is happy he is getting the balance right.
‘The consistency is there. I don’t do anything poorly; all the parts of my game are really good, even if nothing is great. But when the week comes when it all clicks and you get a lucky bounce or two, it is great and you end up leading, like at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
‘Me and my caddie [Steve Tobby] have a good understanding of which are the go-to pins and which aren’t. But my strength is my ball striking, and I have a lot of confidence in my irons and being able to put it close. So I won’t shy away if the shot suits my eye, but there are some pins you can’t take on; you have to stay
on the safe side.
‘It’s the work you put in off the course that gives you the confidence and the aggression. I know I can hit a 7-iron 180 yards and within a five-yard radius, so I do it. Mr Player says the more you practise the more lucky you are, but you’re actually just getting better. I know my strong points and my weaknesses and I know where to miss; you need to play more towards your strengths and avoid your weaknesses,’ Lombard says.
Except that, at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek in November, he was in contention to win on the final day but found water on trademark holes where the threat
is well known.
At Sun City, he was leading going into the final day but bogeyed the 9th hole with its famous island green after hitting into the water, on his way to a 77 in the final round. At Leopard Creek, he was only a couple of shots off the pace set by Pablo Larrazabal but the 9th hole was again his downfall. He missed the peninsula green and landed in the water again, leading to a double-bogey, while the 18th green shares the same expanse of water and again Lombard was wet, his triple-bogey eight costing him a top-three finish.
But Lombard has a phlegmatic attitude that rather belies the physical size of the man and he seems perfectly capable of brushing off such setbacks.
‘It’s just nice to be in contention; that’s why we play. The game really starts when there are six holes to play. Even though it did not work out in the end, the Nedbank Golf Challenge is a big event. I’ve led a couple of Rolex Series tournaments, so it was nothing new for me. But it happening on home soil was awesome, especially with the big crowds; they are so loyal.
‘One of the biggest things I’ve been working on is my mental approach and I just take it shot for shot, hole for hole. It sounds stupid and bland, but it works for me and it helps. You can get upset about a bad shot, but it’s the next shot that matters. If you do everything right off the course, it’s easy to perform because you’re just thinking about golf,’ Lombard says.
The son of an avid golfer who ‘lives and breathes golf’ and played off scratch for a long time, an incident during the Gary Player Invitational, which Lombard won the week after the Nedbank Golf Challenge, highlighted the excitement he is bringing to the local game.
Springbok rugby player Steven Kitshoff, fresh from winning the World Cup, was at Sun City for the Nedbank Golf Challenge and was often seen watching Lombard as he charged up the leaderboard and spearheaded South Africa’s hopes.
At the more social Gary Player Invitational, in which Kitshoff also played, the two rather large specimens
of humanity met.
‘Steven came up to me in the clubhouse and asked if he could have a photo with me. I said I should be having the photo with you! And then we just clicked,’ Lombard recalls.
It is perfectly understandable that Kitshoff and many other fans believe Lombard is going to become a very
big name in South African golf. Once the ambitious Lombard gets the balance right between process and ‘feel’, aggression and consistency, great things are bound to happen. Time is on his side, but 2020 might just be the year Zander Lombard properly announces himself.
