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Sun City – Jaco van Zyl pulled comfortably clear of the field with a three-under-par 69 on Saturday to take the Nashua Golf Challenge at Gary Player Country Club with a commanding three-stroke margin.
He was challenged briefly when he made bogey five on the sixth, but he made birdie on eight, and then two more coming in – on 15 and 18 – to have daylight between himself and Jean Hugo and qualifier PH McIntyre who shared second on three-under.
It has been a remarkably consistent 2010 for Van Zyl, who recorded his eighth finish inside the top 15 in his 10th start of the year, and his second title after the Vodacom Business Origins of Golf event at Sishen on April 10.
The win vaulted him to sixth on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit with R805,000 behind runaway leader Charl Schwartzel and has put him well on the road to bettering his 2009 season where he finished fourth.
It was a tough week on the Gary Player Country Club, and Van Zyl was able to weather what it threw at him better than the rest.
“You’ve got to be really patient around here and take what you can when you can,” he said. “And when the course doesn’t give you anything, you’ve got to keep the mistakes to a bare minimum.”
He made just seven bogeys throughout the whole tournament, and – critically – just one in his final round.
McIntyre, who only got into the tournament by coming in the top 10 in the pre-qualifying round, moved into a share of the lead with Van Zyl on the 195-metre par-three 13th.
But he squandered the chance of pushing on for what could have been a maiden victory when he lost his tee shot on 14 and finished the hole with a treble-bogey seven.
He compounded his woes with a bogey on 15, but finished with a flourish when he nearly holed his third at the 18th for eagle. He tapped in for birdie and a final round of 71.
After McIntyre made that treble-bogey, Van Zyl responded with a 35-footer for birdie on 15 to effectively shut the door on any possible challenge.
Hugo was also in contention down the stretch, but, after he too birdied 13, he was unable to pick up another shot and, in fact, dropped one on the tough 17th.
With only six of the 40 players who made the cut finishing under par, the course was clearly in challenging shape: “It makes it nice and challenging,” said Van Zyl. “It’s not the same monotonous week-in and week-out sort of golf.”
He came close to winning last week in Swaziland, where he said he relished putting himself in position to win every week, but he’s keen to convert that form into a win in one of the Sunshine Tour’s big summer events.
“I always seem to peak at this time of the year which is a little bit too early or too late,” he said. “I may just shuffle the schedule around a bit towards the end of the year and see what happens then.”
Scores (RSA unless specified):
208 - Jaco van Zyl 68 71 69
213 - PH McIntyre 72 70 71, Jean Hugo 73 69 71
214 - James Kamte 74 69 71, Adilson da Silva (BRA) 70 72 72
215 - Keenan Davidse 74 69 72
216 - Jake Roos 73 73 70, Mark Murless 70 75 71, Prinavin Nelson 70 71 75
217 - Darren Fichardt 75 71 71, Ulrich van den Berg 75 71 71, Andrew Curlewis 69 76 72, Christiaan Basson 72 73 72, Derik Ferreira 76 72 69, Oliver Bekker 74 75 68, Chris Swanepoel 72 70 75
218 - Justin Walters 73 73 72, Andre Cruse 73 72 73, Grant Veenstra 71 77 70, Albert Pistorius 74 69 75
219 - Cameron Johnston 72 74 73, Jbe' Kruger 73 72 74, Neil Schietekat 72 72 75, Lindani Ndwandwe 69 73 77
220 - Justin Harding 71 76 73, Josh Cunliffe 74 74 72, Jake Redman 77 72 71
221 - Theunis Spangenberg 73 74 74
222 - Bradford Vaughan 67 78 77, Steve van Vuuren 74 71 77, Nic Henning 75 72 75, Grant Muller 74 73 75
223 - Ryan Thompson 68 76 79, Reggie Adams 75 74 74
226 - Shaun Norris 72 74 80
227 - Matthew Carvell 74 73 80, Charl Coetzee 73 75 79
230 - David Hewan 71 75 84, Doug McGuigan 71 76 83
233 - Toto Thimba (Jnr) 71 78 84
He was challenged briefly when he made bogey five on the sixth, but he made birdie on eight, and then two more coming in – on 15 and 18 – to have daylight between himself and Jean Hugo and qualifier PH McIntyre who shared second on three-under.
It has been a remarkably consistent 2010 for Van Zyl, who recorded his eighth finish inside the top 15 in his 10th start of the year, and his second title after the Vodacom Business Origins of Golf event at Sishen on April 10.
The win vaulted him to sixth on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit with R805,000 behind runaway leader Charl Schwartzel and has put him well on the road to bettering his 2009 season where he finished fourth.
It was a tough week on the Gary Player Country Club, and Van Zyl was able to weather what it threw at him better than the rest.
“You’ve got to be really patient around here and take what you can when you can,” he said. “And when the course doesn’t give you anything, you’ve got to keep the mistakes to a bare minimum.”
He made just seven bogeys throughout the whole tournament, and – critically – just one in his final round.
McIntyre, who only got into the tournament by coming in the top 10 in the pre-qualifying round, moved into a share of the lead with Van Zyl on the 195-metre par-three 13th.
But he squandered the chance of pushing on for what could have been a maiden victory when he lost his tee shot on 14 and finished the hole with a treble-bogey seven.
He compounded his woes with a bogey on 15, but finished with a flourish when he nearly holed his third at the 18th for eagle. He tapped in for birdie and a final round of 71.
After McIntyre made that treble-bogey, Van Zyl responded with a 35-footer for birdie on 15 to effectively shut the door on any possible challenge.
Hugo was also in contention down the stretch, but, after he too birdied 13, he was unable to pick up another shot and, in fact, dropped one on the tough 17th.
With only six of the 40 players who made the cut finishing under par, the course was clearly in challenging shape: “It makes it nice and challenging,” said Van Zyl. “It’s not the same monotonous week-in and week-out sort of golf.”
He came close to winning last week in Swaziland, where he said he relished putting himself in position to win every week, but he’s keen to convert that form into a win in one of the Sunshine Tour’s big summer events.
“I always seem to peak at this time of the year which is a little bit too early or too late,” he said. “I may just shuffle the schedule around a bit towards the end of the year and see what happens then.”
Scores (RSA unless specified):
208 - Jaco van Zyl 68 71 69
213 - PH McIntyre 72 70 71, Jean Hugo 73 69 71
214 - James Kamte 74 69 71, Adilson da Silva (BRA) 70 72 72
215 - Keenan Davidse 74 69 72
216 - Jake Roos 73 73 70, Mark Murless 70 75 71, Prinavin Nelson 70 71 75
217 - Darren Fichardt 75 71 71, Ulrich van den Berg 75 71 71, Andrew Curlewis 69 76 72, Christiaan Basson 72 73 72, Derik Ferreira 76 72 69, Oliver Bekker 74 75 68, Chris Swanepoel 72 70 75
218 - Justin Walters 73 73 72, Andre Cruse 73 72 73, Grant Veenstra 71 77 70, Albert Pistorius 74 69 75
219 - Cameron Johnston 72 74 73, Jbe' Kruger 73 72 74, Neil Schietekat 72 72 75, Lindani Ndwandwe 69 73 77
220 - Justin Harding 71 76 73, Josh Cunliffe 74 74 72, Jake Redman 77 72 71
221 - Theunis Spangenberg 73 74 74
222 - Bradford Vaughan 67 78 77, Steve van Vuuren 74 71 77, Nic Henning 75 72 75, Grant Muller 74 73 75
223 - Ryan Thompson 68 76 79, Reggie Adams 75 74 74
226 - Shaun Norris 72 74 80
227 - Matthew Carvell 74 73 80, Charl Coetzee 73 75 79
230 - David Hewan 71 75 84, Doug McGuigan 71 76 83
233 - Toto Thimba (Jnr) 71 78 84
