Liam Grehan will be disappointed he couldn’t capitalise on a good opening round as he closed with a 75 at the Gary and Vivienne Player Challenge at Benoni Country Club.
Grehan finished the week with a 54-hole total of level-par for a share of 38th place.
Grehan’s final round took a similar pattern to his opening two efforts, steady to start, a kick into gear around the turn followed by a stumbling finish.
The K Club man began with eight successive pars before back to back birdies either side of the turn move him to five-under for the tournament.
His first bogey of the day didn’t come until the 15th but what followed was a damaging finish as he triple bogeyed the par-4 17th and bogeyed the par-5 18th to take the shine off what was looking like a solid final round.
There was drama at the top as Jonathan Broomhead pipped Malcolm Mitchell in a playoff to win after both players were tied at twelve-under-par.
Broomhead carded a final round of 69 wile Mitchell got into the clubhouse with a 71 but it was Broomhead who was left celebrating with a birdie at the first playoff hole.
“Only afterwards did I realise what I’d done. It’s always nice to win an event, but when you have a name like Gary and Vivienne Player on the trophy, it’s just got a totally different feel to it. I’m very honoured and pleased to have won it,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell has come close to victory before but was delighted to finally have his moment.
“I think it’s a bit of maturity. I’ve got a baby on the way. Your life changes and your priorities change. I’m doing this for my family now. It’s no longer just for me and what I want. That is a big thing. I’ve been doing a lot of work on being more patient. I struggled with that, and to actually do that today was big for me.”
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