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Otto wins in Namibia

Swakopmund – Hennie Otto made an unlikely par on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to defeat Titch Moore and win the 72-hole R1-million MTC Namibia PGA Championship played at the 6,113-metre par-72 Rossmund Golf Course.

Both players finished on eight-under 280 after Otto shot a six-under 66 and Moore a three-under 69 in the final round.

Otto had a chance to seal it in regulation when he reached the 18th at nine-under, but his drive found a group of palm trees in the desert rough to the left of the fairway.

He was only able to play into the middle of the fairway, and left his approach short of the green.

“I was out of the tournament at the beginning of the day, and I played my way back into it,” he said, “and to shoot 66 in this wind, I can take my hat off to myself.”

The resulting bogey on saw Otto  slip into a share of the lead until Moore made a birdie on 17 to edge into a one-stroke lead himself.

But he, too, had trouble finding the fairway on the 18th, on the right. He, too, was only able to advance his ball into the fairway, and he was unable to get up and down as Otto was on the driving range preparing for the playoff.

It looked for all the world as if Moore’s drive down the middle had wrested the advantage from Otto, especially after Otto’s approach missed the green quite badly right.

“I couldn’t hit the fairway again,” said Otto of his tee shot, “and that’s crucial on this course – if you miss the fairway, it’s desert or springbok spoor.”

But Moore was right himself, and Otto played a superb chip to leave himself a tap-in for par.

Moore was left with 18 inches for par and he lipped out to give Otto his eighth Sunshine Tour title.

His victory was sweeter because he came back from a back injury: “It was serious, and there were times I didn’t think I would play again,” he said.

“When I got here this week, I wasn’t sure I’d play, but I decided to take it easy and not hit too many balls, and the back held up nicely,” he added.

The victory makes it a good year for Otto as he vaults to 37th on the Order of Merit and the rich summer events of the Sunshine Tour beckoning.

Brandon Pieters, Tjaart van der Walt and Adilson Da Silva shared third on six-under 282, while leading Namibian pro Joe Nawanga slumped to a six-over 78 in the final round and a share of 34th at three-over.


Scores (RSA unless specified):
280 - Hennie Otto 72 70 72 66 (won on first hole of playoff)
280 - Titch Moore 75 66 70 69
282 - Brandon Pieters 70 76 68 68, Adilson da Silva (BRA) 70 70 71 71, Tjaart van der Walt 70 71 70 71
283 - Christiaan Basson 73 68 73 69, Vaughn Groenewald 70 71 72 70, Tyrone Mordt 66 70 73 74, Willie van der Merwe 68 77 64 74
284 - Bradford Vaughan 71 70 73 70
285 - Marc Cayeux (ZIM) 75 70 70 70, Henk Alberts 69 71 74 71, Josh Cunliffe 72 74 68 71, Ulrich van den Berg 72 70 71 72
286 - Charl Coetzee 71 76 72 67, Jacques Blaauw 72 70 73 71, Warren Abery 73 70 71 72, Des Terblanche 74 72 68 72, Merrick Bremner 72 73 65 76
287 - Ryan Tipping 74 70 72 71, Neil Cheetham (ENG) 68 72 75 72, Andre Cruse 71 71 72 73, Ignatius Mketekete (ZIM) 67 70 75 75, Doug McGuigan 69 69 72 77
288 - Shaun Norris 72 70 73 73, Desvonde Botes 76 69 69 74, Alan McLean (SCO) 68 71 74 75
289 - Darren Holder 75 73 70 71, Albert Pistorius 75 73 69 72, Andrew Curlewis 72 72 70 75
290 - David Hewan 71 76 72 71, Steve Basson 72 75 70 73, PG van Zyl 73 72 69 76
291 - Callie Swart 71 76 75 69, Francois Olivier 76 71 72 72, Jean Hugo 70 74 74 73, Dawie Van der Walt 69 76 72 74, Bennie van der Merwe 74 73 70 74, Mark Murless 69 75 72 75, Joe Nawanga (NAM) 72 67 74 78, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 76 68 69 78
292 - Jeremy Kavanagh (ENG) 75 68 78 71
293 - Nic Henning 77 71 73 72, Mike Curtis (ZIM) 74 73 73 73, Ryan Thompson 75 73 71 74
295 - Grant Muller 69 72 76 78
296 - Dion Fourie 69 79 74 74, Rossouw Loubser 76 70 75 75
297 - Brett Liddle 79 69 72 77
303 - Morne Buys 73 75 76 79
305 - Alpheus Kelapile 73 74 81 77 
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