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Pieters wins BMG Classic

Johannesburg - Brandon Pieters made par on the first playoff hole on Sunday to win the R600 000 BMG Classic at Glendower Golf Club from England’s Ben Mannix.

And, for Pieters, it was a sweet win after he had his clubs stolen from his home two weeks ago and he incurred a fine for missing last week’s Nashua Masters.

“I should get fined more often,” he joked, “because the last time I was fined, I won my first tournament as a pro last year in Pretoria.”

The only clubs he had left were non-conforming, so he had to get a new set from his sponsors Ping before playing this week.

Rookie Steven Ferreira had his best professional finish with third at 10-under-par after a closing 66, while three-time winner on the 2010 Sunshine Tour Jean Hugo filled fourth place at eight-under after a closing 69.

Pieters and Mannix ended on 11-under-par 205 after regulation play, and when Mannix’s tee shot off the 18th for the first playoff hole went into the tree on the left, he had too much to do after his approach raced 30 feet past the pin.

The 33-year-old frrom Liverpool three-putted and Pieters had a tap-in for par to take the title.

It was just reward for a good round from Pieters, who started in a hurry with an eagle-three on the 509-metre second.

But bogeys on the third and the seventh set him back somewhat: “I put enough pressure on myself on the front nine,” said Pieters.

He still managed to turn in two-under 34 and was starting to threaten the leaders. He turned up the heat on the back nine with four birdies as he raced home in four-under 32.

But Mannix wasn’t going away: From three strokes off the pace, he suddenly leapt into contention with an eagle-three on the 500-metre 15th, and a birdie on the 203-metre 16th saw him get into the playoff.

He had a chance to win in regulation, when his eight-footer for birdie on the 18th slid past the right lip of the hole.
Mannix, who has been coming to South Africa for 12 years, has been telling his friends that it’s a great country and that the Sunshine Tour is a great tour to play on.

His best-ever finish on the Sunshine Tour gets him into the lucrative Alfred Dunhill Championship next month, and he hopes a good performance there will get him into the 100th SA Open Championship in Durban.

For Pieters, it was a fourth victory after his fine 2009 when he won three times, and it was a timely return to form after a scratchy 2010, during which he had house-building headaches to contend with, as well as a season which had just one top-10 in it, and only two other top-20s.

Until now.

Scores (RSA unless specified):
205 - Brandon Pieters 71 68 66
205 - Ben Mannix (ENG) 72 66 67
206 - Steven Ferreira 73 67 66
208 - Jean Hugo 73 66 69
210 - Jaco Ahlers 72 68 70, Justin Harding 74 64 72, Dion Fourie 70 65 75
211 - Branden Grace 71 71 69
212 - Anthony Michael 73 72 67, Morne Buys 70 71 71, Tyrone Ferreira 70 71 71, Neil Schietekat 68 73 71, Darren Blair 68 73 71
213 - Tjaart van der Walt 75 67 71, Oliver Bekker 70 69 74
214 - Alan McLean (SCO) 76 69 69, Anton Haig 75 68 71
215 - Colin Nel 75 71 69
216 - Alan Michell 72 74 70, Omar Sandys 74 72 70, Merrick Bremner 72 73 71, Clinton Whitelaw 74 71 71, Louis de Jager 72 73 71, TC Charamba (ZIM) 78 67 71, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 72 71 73
217 - Chris Swanepoel 73 72 72, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 71 74 72, PH McIntyre 75 69 73
218 - Don Black 75 70 73, Bradford Vaughan 75 70 73
219 - Warren Abery 73 73 73, Jeff Inglis (ENG) 73 73 73, Darryn Lloyd 72 74 73, Charl Coetzee 71 74 74, Doug McGuigan 74 71 74, Gavan Levenson 75 70 74, Desvonde Botes 71 73 75
220 - Andrew Georgiou 74 69 77
221 - Mohamed Tayob 75 71 75, Vaughn Groenewald 73 72 76, Theunis Spangenberg 77 68 76
222 - Christiaan Basson 72 74 76, Ian Hutchings 73 73 76
223 - Michael Scholz 69 76 78
 
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