The third and final round of the Sunshine Tour’s Vodacom Orirgins of Golf in South Africa came to an end on Sunday with local hero Jacques Kruyswijk securing his second win around Devonvale Golf & Wine Estate.
Rowan Lester, the sole Irish representative on the final day, pieced together a tidy round of two-under to finish T24 adding 23.04 points to his Order of Merit rank.
Lester, who finished the weekend on four-under-par, began his final round quickly with back-to-back birdies on the second and third hole.
A bogey came on the par-4 seventh, but the 29-year-old regrouped in a flash with a birdie on the eighth.
Lester maintained a level-head throughout the back nine as he made par on the first eight holes but a lapse in form on the par-4 18th saw Lester make a bogey to post a round of 69. Lester now sits 54th in the Order of Merit rankings.
Lester’s 69 was one of the lower scores of the round as conditions were harsher on the final day as round two leader and eventual winner Kruyswijk could only manage a one-over-par final round.
Far from his flawless 62 on Saturday, Kruyswijk struggled in the strong wind sweeping through the winelands as his two-stroke lead quickly disappeared. Kruyswijk found himself tied with George Coetzee heading into the tough back nine.
Kruyswijk was one ahead playing the par-4 18th straight into the wind, and he made double bogey while Coetzee bogeyed the hole for them to finish regulation play tied on 10 under par with rounds of 73 and 71 respectively.
In the playoff, both parred the 18th as the first playoff hole, before Kruyswijk took the title with a par on the second playoff hole.
“It’s always special to win. Cape Town has always been good to me, and it was nice to come out on top this week,” said Kruyswijk.
“I was fresh off a double bogey going into the playoff, which is never great. It felt like I threw it away there, but that last hole was playing ridiculously tough. I pulled myself together on the tee-off and knew I still had a chance,” said Kruyswijk.
“I kept a strong mindset. I was hoping to bank on my experience today and I think it showed quite a lot on certain holes. Kudos to George. What a great battle out there. His experience also showed. But man, I’m happy to come out on top this week,” added the victor.
Zander Lombard took solo third place on nine-under, as Stuart Krog and Altin van der Merwe shared T4 on eight-under.
Herman Loubser who leads the Order of Merit rankings checked out his weekend in T7 on six-under-par, earning himself 51.53 points.
The Sunshine Tour will now take a two-week break and then head to the Euphoria Golf & Lifestyle Estate for the Limpopo Championship on the 9th of October.
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