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Ritchie wins Zimbabwe Open

Harare - JC Ritchie saw off Trevor Fisher jnr on the second playoff hole at Royal Harare Golf Club to win the 2017 Zimbabwe Open.

After being seven-over-par after his first seven holes of the tournament, Ritchie bounced back with 29 birdies to tie Fisher on 16-under-par for the week.

“I actually started the week off quite rough. I was seven-over-par after seven holes. I made that eagle-two on the ninth and that’s where it turned around for me,” explained Ritchie.

Ritchie sealed the dramatic win with a right to left 13-foot putt on the 18th green, which epitomised his putting display during the week.

“That was unreal golf. I really enjoyed it and never really felt like I was out of contention. It was one of the best putting expositions I’ve had in my entire life,” he said.

Fisher started his final round strongly, however three bogeys in a row at the turn saw his three-shot lead disappear. An eagle at the par-five 16th saw him shoot back into a two-shot lead, but a double-bogey on the 17th made for a playoff with Ritchie.

“I felt last night that 63 today would definitely win by one. I didn’t expect Fish to make double on the 17th, he was playing unreal golf. When I got onto 15 tee box I knew I needed three more (birdies). I hit an unreal second shot into 16 and lipped out for eagle,” Ritchie said.

The win is his first on the Sunshine Tour and it promises to set up a good run of form for the remainder of the season.

Scores: 

272 - JC Ritchie 74 67 67 64

272 - Trevor Fisher jnr 67 63 73 69

273 - Oliver Bekker 67 68 73 65

274 - Jaco Ahlers 69 69 68 68

276 - Jean Hugo 65 69 74 68

277 - Andrew Curlewis 69 70 68 70, Doug McGuigan 73 69 63 72

278 - Toby Tree 72 68 67 71

279 - Neil Schietekat 70 69 72 68, Wallie Coetsee 72 69 68 70, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 71 71 67 70

280 - Peter Karmis 70 73 70 67, Chris Swanepoel 74 67 70 69, Rourke van der Spuy 68 72 70 70, Tyrone Ferreira 68 72 70 70, Anthony Michael 68 70 70 72

281 - Vaughn Groenewald 68 71 73 69, Breyten Meyer 71 67 72 71, Christiaan Basson 72 67 70 72

282 - Andrew Odoh 75 68 69 70

284 - Jean-Paul Strydom 70 69 73 72

285 - Jared Harvey 69 75 74 67, Keenan Davidse 67 72 75 71, CJ du Plessis 67 75 72 71, Bryce Easton 71 72 70 72

286 - Rhys West 74 69 73 70, Ruan Huysamen 74 66 74 72, Teaghan Gauche 70 73 71 72, Ulrich van den Berg 72 69 72 73, Cody Martin 68 72 71 75, Riekus Nortje 75 66 70 75

287 - Lindani Ndwandwe 69 72 73 73, Rhys Enoch 68 68 77 74, Martin Rohwer 71 71 71 74, Merrick Bremner 71 73 68 75, Ryan Cairns 66 73 72 76, Jacquin Hess 71 73 67 76

288 - Mark Williams 73 72 71 72, Steven Ferreira 71 69 74 74, MJ Viljoen 72 71 71 74, Jonathan Agren 69 73 71 75

289 - Justin Harding 70 74 75 70, Danie van Tonder 68 76 74 71, Toto Thimba 73 70 72 74, Alex Haindl 69 76 70 74, Jason Froneman 68 76 69 76

290 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi 69 75 76 70, Antonio Costa 72 73 74 71, Zander Lombard 72 70 75 73, N.J. Arnoldi 69 73 75 73, Francois Coetzee 67 77 73 73, Luke Jerling 67 71 73 79

291 - Herman Loubser 72 71 72 76

292 - Heinrich Bruiners 74 71 77 70, Trainos Muradzikwa 69 76 70 77

293 - TC Charamba 70 69 77 77

294 - Stephen Ferreira 73 70 76 75, Kyle Pilgrim 73 72 72 77, Aubrey Beckley 68 70 78 78

295 - Michael Palmer 72 72 77 74, Jason Viljoen 73 71 76 75, Arthur Horne 72 72 73 78

296 - Dayne Moore 70 73 73 80, Callum Mowat 72 73 70 81

298 - Gary Thompson 74 71 74 79

299 - Coert Groenewald 70 75 78 76

302 - James Kamte 71 71 81 79

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