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Hugo romps to Langebaan win

Langebaan - His birdie putt on 18 appeared to have misgivings about going in, but there was no doubting the emphatic nature of Jean Hugo’s seven-stroke victory on Friday in the R600 000 Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament at Langebaan Country Estate.

He carded a final five-under-par 67 to pull clear of his pursuers on 14-under-par 202 for the 54-hole event, with a trio of them sharing second on seven-under 209 - Merrick Bremner, Jbe’ Kruger and Andrew Curlewis.

“That birdie was a nice way to finish it,” said Hugo, who won a record-breaking eighth title on the Vodacom Origins series, and took his first win since September 2011, and his 15th career title on the Sunshine Tour.

He made birdies on one, four and eight to get a jump on the players who had a chance of catching him and start on the best possible way.

“You feel it building,” he said, “and you just have to stay within yourself. It’s easy to just run away in your head and think you’ve won the tournament after nine holes.

“That’s obviously what happened on 11. I had a three-putt for bogey, and I told myself the closing holes were quite tough into the wind, and anything can happen. So I just knuckled down, and made two more birdies on 12 and 13 which really gave me a nice cushion.

“And when I saw a leaderboard again, I was six shots clear. From then on, I just tried to protect that lead, and the birdie on 18 was a bonus,” he added.

He made just three bogeys all week, all of which were three-putts, but his game was solid through the rain, wind and cold of the opening round, the idyll of the second round during which he carded a brilliant 63, and then the victory march of the final round.

Bremner was the man who made up the most ground on Hugo with a five-under 67 of his own. After his second-round 66, he was clearly in great form, but his opening 76 - marred by two triple-bogeys caused by wayward drives - left him with too much to do.

Kruger was solid throughout, closing with successive 69s after his opening 71, and it appears that a workmanlike approach to his game is starting to get him back on track after a dismal couple of months.

Curlewis closed with a 70 for his fourth top-10 finish of the year.

Steven Ferreira and Titch Moore shared fifth on six-under-par 210, while Vaughn Groenewald, Mark Murless, Heinrich Bruiners and Attie Schwartzel shared seventh a further shot back.

For Hugo, it’s all coming together just in time. “With the summer events coming up on longer courses, we have to be pin-point and accurate,” he said.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do, everything feels good and obviously, it helps.”

Scores (RSA unless specified):

202 - Jean Hugo 72 63 67

209 - Merrick Bremner 76 66 67, Jbe' Kruger 71 69 69, Andrew Curlewis 71 68 70

210 - Steven Ferreira 72 69 69, Titch Moore 70 70 70

211 - Vaughn Groenewald 72 70 69, Mark Murless 71 70 70, Heinrich Bruiners 70 69 72, Attie Schwartzel 69 67 75

212 - Keenan Davidse 73 70 69

213 - Jared Harvey 71 73 69, Lyle Rowe 72 71 70, Oliver Bekker 73 68 72

214 - Jake Roos 76 70 68, Christiaan Basson 77 68 69

215 - Martin du Toit 75 70 70, Charl Coetzee 74 70 71

216 - Bryce Easton 76 70 70, Theunis Spangenberg 74 71 71, Erik van Rooyen 77 70 69

217 - Neil Schietekat 75 71 71, Shaun Smith 77 69 71, Wallie Coetsee 75 70 72, Alan Michell 74 73 70, Dean Burmester 73 72 72, Ulrich van den Berg 71 70 76

218 - Warren Abery 76 70 72, Colin Nel 75 70 73, Drikus Bruyns 76 69 73, Desvonde Botes 72 75 71, Tyrone Ferreira 76 71 71, Lindani Ndwandwe 74 73 71, Tyrone Mordt 72 71 75, Justin Harding 70 72 76

219 - Matthew Carvell 76 70 73, Jake Redman 75 70 74, Darryn Lloyd 74 73 72, Allan Versfeld 72 70 77

220 - Clifford Howes 74 73 73

221 - Peter Karmis 75 70 76, JG Claassen 73 73 75, Anthony Michael 73 72 76, Adrian Ford 74 70 77

222 - Derik Ferreira 75 70 77
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