Nojeem Shofela: Waiting by the Corner

The leadership of the Nigerian PGA Tour has never in recent time been unpredictable. But Sam Emehelu mirrors the chances of one of golf’s most breezing player.

The fact that the first three Nigeria PGA ranking event in 2007 has tossed up three different villains, gives cause for worry. And among other things has thrown the leadership order of the pro players more open. The most open in the recent times.

Oche Odoh, was the bride of the Tour for the past two years and it seems his decision to abandon his lead of the Nigerian order of merit to find shelter on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa has left a tumultuous peace.

Zaria based Alli Abdullahi who rode on the crest of his spectacular 2006 wrap up performances to shove his mates for the Tour Opener in 2007 at the MicCom Golf and Country Club in Ada. It was not much of a show when Umoh Edet rose to the rostrum the weekend after to pick the next winners’ cheque before giving way to the Peter Simon in Calabar late February.

Lateef Lasisi, the former Nigerian Open winner, Gboyega Oyebanji and Christian Godfrey are former order of merit leaders, Martin Odoh and Sunday Odegha all have the chances of taking to the rostrum too. But none too would be leery of the strong challenge that may come from Nojeem Shofela. He is perhaps the Tour’s most consistent stealth chancer.

Back in 2001 when his name first came up it was in the controversial manner that the petit player (who is now the resident pro of MicCom Golf Club) was dropped in the PGA’s Qualifying-School exercise of that year.

Recalling he said; “I was surprised myself and thought I had qualified for the Tour which has been my dream. Only to be told on the final day of the test that I missed the cut by one shot”

Shofela, finished in the Q-School that year as the sixth best player in the playing ability and had gone home thinking that the feat had earned him the Tour card.

“You know then when only six of the applicant that year was told would make the pro rank and nobody gave me a chance out the over 30 players that applied that year. Seeing my name at that spot on the playing ability rung made me almost mad. I felt I was in.”

On the final list he dropped to the seventh place and missed the tour card. That was where everybody especially those he had charmed with the smoothness of his short game began asking; “where did he get it wrong?” And of course “who was this sneaky player Nojeem Shofela?”

Although he has since turned pro in 2002 (when he returned to the Q-School and finished in the second place) and the PGA explained that his 2001 drawback was a major flaw he had in other aspect of the Q-School test, Shofela is still as sneaky as ever.

Take for instance, he has never led the PGA order of merit since he turned pro but he has never finished short of the top ten (out of the over 120 players on the ranking list).

His presence is even more intimidating these days having finished comfortably in the top five in the past two seasons.

Perhaps it was only Oche odoh, and Alli Abdullahi who has played more in the leading set on the last than Shofela in 2006.

At close interaction you would know that he fears the rostrum, not only because he is not well lettered but he is again not a man of many words.

The clouds are gathering anyway and the golf fans may have to cheer his cacophony anyhow, because Nojeem Shofela is waiting by the corner and could be the new face of the Nigeria PGA Tour in 2007.