Cape Town – Ruan de Smidt took his second Sunshine Tour title in three weeks on Saturday as he carded a three-under-par 69 to win the R700,000 Sun Boardwalk Challenge at Humewood Golf Club.
He overcame two bogeys in his opening three holes, and made five birdies in the rest of his round to edge out Tyrone Ferreira who shot a five-under 67 by one stroke. Danie van Tonder was in third place after he signed for a two-under 70, and he was a further shot back.
“My game has felt like it has been in the right place for the last six or seven weeks,” said De Smidt, “and luckily for me, I’ve won twice in the last three.” In fact, it was his eighth top-10 of the season, and his sixth in his last seven tournaments.
He must have wondered whether it was going to turn out that way when he dropped those two early shots, but he had scored really well around the turn and on the back nine in the preceding two rounds. He picked up one of the dropped shots on the fourth hole, and the second on the eighth, and three birdies in the last five holes down the stretch clinched it for him.
“I just putted terribly today,” he said of a victory which might have been more decisive. “I had 33 putts which is never great, but I hit it nicely – especially on the back nine where I had a lot of birdie opportunities. I’m just happy that I fought back after those first two holes.”
As he stepped up onto the 18th tee, he had seen a leaderboard on 17 and it told him he was two shots clear – but, up ahead of him, Ferreira had made a fine birdie on 18 and De Smidt was not aware of it. “I just played my approach on 18 for the front edge,” he said, “and then I saw that Tyrone had finished 12-under. I had left myself quite a lot of work.”
De Smidt played the final round paired with Van Tonder, and, until De Smidt eased clear towards the end of the round, they were locked in the kind of struggle which was reminiscent of their clashes as rookies. “I think that’s the first time I’ve come out on top in a clash with him,” laughed De Smidt. “It’s fun playing with Danie. He’s very competitive and we both bring out the best in each other.”
The win lifted him inside the top 20 of the 2016 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, to 17th spot, and his current form sets him up beautifully ahead of the summer season. He’s won four times on the Sunshine Tour, and his recent form suggests he is going to be a contender in the big-money events towards the end of the year and in early 2017.
Scores
203 - Ruan de Smidt 67 67 69
204 - Tyrone Ferreira 64 73 67
205 - Danie van Tonder 65 70 70
206 - Jake Roos 67 71 68
207 - Michael Palmer 70 70 67
208 - Zander Lombard 69 73 66, Louis de Jager 69 74 65
209 - Jonathan Agren 72 71 66, Callum Mowat 69 69 71
210 - Drikus Bruyns 70 72 68, James Kingston 69 73 68, Madalitso Muthiya 68 73 69, Jake Redman 69 72 69
211 - Christiaan Basson 72 70 69, Ockie Strydom 68 73 70, Le Roux Ferreira 68 71 72, Doug McGuigan 67 68 76
212 - Alex Haindl 66 78 68, Jared Harvey 70 75 67
213 - Keenan Davidse 69 74 70, Lindani Ndwandwe 70 73 70, Peter Karmis 69 74 70, Ryan Cairns 69 76 68
214 - Titch Moore 66 77 71, Jason Froneman 67 75 72, Wallie Coetsee 68 74 72, Andrew Georgiou 67 73 74, Tyrone Ryan 74 70 70, James Kamte 71 74 69
215 - Toby Tree 68 72 75, Steven Ferreira 70 75 70, Jacquin Hess 72 73 70
216 - Gert Myburgh 70 73 73, Greg Bentley 74 70 72, Makhetha Mazibuko 71 74 71
217 - Jean-Paul Strydom 70 73 74, Jason Diab 67 78 72
219 - JC Ritchie 67 77 75, Pieter Kruger 70 74 75
222 - Jaco Prinsloo 69 76 77