The only thing that needs to happen is for the ball to go in the hole, says SA's Wilco Nienaber

ANTALYA: South Africa’s Wilco Nienaber feels that his putting game has improved, despite falling away over the weekend at the Turkish Airlines Open at the Regnum Carya Club in Antalya, Türkiye.

Nienaber was in second place after the first two rounds, but eventually finished with seven-under-par in 33rd place. 

The 23-year-old was magnificent off the tee box, which included a monster 340-yard drive on the 18th hole. His short game, however, let him down though over the last two days.

“The weekend wasn't great. The only good was the fight I showed on the back nine,” Louw said.  

“Not really quite sure what happened on the front. Just didn't work. Just didn't happen.

“But yeah, happy with the four birdies in my last six holes. My (putting) …  it's improved a lot. The only thing that needs to get better more is the ball going in the hole. That's it!”

Nienaber doesn’t have a specialist coach, but he doesn’t feel that he needs any technical adjustments. It is more the rub of the green that has to go his way. 

“Yeah, it's a weird thing. One day you will roll in everything, and the next day you do the same thing, and it doesn't go that way,” he said.

“So, I'm still trying to figure out what it is that I'm missing, but I feel like I'm getting closer.”

Nienaber’s driving has always been his primary strength, and he certainly feels that it's coming together nicely after a club change.

“I don’t think there’s a golf course where length doesn’t help, but helps even more when it goes straight as well,” said Nienaber.

“We did some adjustments with Ping on Monday, and I am playing with a totally different driver. It’s obviously doing the job. Yeah, that thing is going to stay for a long time. It's very good.”

Robin Williams was South Africa’s highest finisher in 7th place in Antalya after being just four shots off the winner Martin Couvra from France with just three holes remaining before he double-bogeyed on the 16th hole.

* Zaahier Adams is attending the Turkish Airlines Open at the Regnum Carya Golf Club in Antalya, courtesy of Turkish Airlines