Golf
Van Zyl defends Telkom title
2010-09-03 17:18
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Centurian - Jaco van Zyl defended his Telkom PGA title at Centurion by firing a final round 69 to finish on 15 under par to claim a one shot victory over Garth Mulroy.
After Mulroy posted 14 under par, it was a relieved van Zyl who held his nerve to avoid mistakes coming down the final stretch.
"It’s a first for me defending my title, and this is a course I enjoy a lot so it feels good to be able to do that," said van Zyl in his victory speech.
The 31-year-old van Zyl had a slow start to his round, struggling to make putts.
"I hit some really good putts on the front 9 which didn’t go in and, at that point, I knew I was going to be in for a tough day where I just had to grind it out."
He started off with nine pars, missing just a single green in regulation, while a charging Mulroy was piling on the pressure two groups ahead.
It wasn’t until the par-5 12th hole that van Zyl made his first birdie of the day and he followed that up with another on the 13th to start gaining momentum.
Playing the par-5 15th, van Zyl was tied for the lead with Mulroy needing a birdie to move ahead. He went for the hole in two but was unable to hold the green with his approach and that left him with a tough up and down. He had no trouble in securing his birdie which put the pressure back on Mulroy on the last few holes.
The shot he picked up on the 15th was enough to see van Zyl able to play the last few holes without much trouble as he walked away with the win.
"They’re supposed to get easier, but it feels like they get harder," explained van Zyl about the pressures of winning.
Mulroy got off to an eagle, birdie start to put the early heat on van Zyl, and then picked up three more shots after the turn.
"I birdied seven, nine and ten and I was feeling good," but Mulroy missed an eight foot birdie putt on the 16th hole which would prove his last real chance eventually falling one short of a playoff.
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