Sun City - Garrick Higgo showed some serious big match temperament in the final round of the Sun City Challenge, carding a three-under-par 69 to claim his first Sunshine Tour win in just three months after earning his playing card at Qualifying School.
Higgo entered the final round trailing Jaco van Zyl by two shots at four-under-par for the week. A birdie on his first hole kicked off his round but those gains were soon lost as he went on to make back-to-back bogeys after the par he made on the second.
He made a birdie on the fifth hole and two pars later, he picked two birdies on the trot, on the eighth and the ninth, to turn in 34.
His back nine was just as eventful, making two bogeys and three birdies to sing for a tournament total of seven-under-par 209 and win by one shot.
"I'm still stressed but I'm sure it will sink in a bit later," said Higgo. "I'm very happy, happy that my family was here to witness it. But it was a difficult three days but I got it done. I played really well throughout."
He came in in a share of third at the Zanaco Masters earlier in the season, and has a Big Easy Tour win under his belt already, and at a very challenging Gary Player Country Club layout, Higgo proved he can compete at the highest level.
"I was in contention in Zambia and I remember on the one hole I kind of threw it away because I thought I was out of it," revealed Higgo.
"But for the whole day today I knew that whether I win or not, I will be up there. This win takes a lot of pressure off me for the rest of the year. My goal was to play some co-sanctioned events, and obviously you need to make a certain amount of one but with the win now, it puts me ahead of schedule."
Higgo showed maturity out there, shrugging off pressure from such players as Ockie Strydom who finished runner-up and Jaco van Zyl whose game looks like it's taking shape again. Kyle Barker also had a great tournament in Sun City, sharing the fourth spot with the in-form JC Ritchie.
Veteran Keith Horne, Jaco Ahlers, Ryan Cairns, Rhys West and last year's champion, Neil Schietekat shared the sixth spot at two-under-par.
Scores:
209 - Garrick Higgo 69 71 69
210 - Ockie Strydom 72 71 67
212 - Jaco Van Zyl 70 68 74
213 - Kyle Barker 66 75 72, JC Ritchie 68 72 73
214 - Keith Horne 73 70 71, Jaco Ahlers 68 75 71, Ryan Cairns 71 71 72, Rhys West 70 72 72, Neil Schietekat 70 69 75
215 - Callum Mowat 73 72 70, Jacquin Hess 74 70 71, Keenan Davidse 71 72 72
216 - Jacques P de Villiers 68 77 71, Christiaan Basson 72 72 72, James Allan 70 73 73
217 - Titch Moore 68 76 73, Thriston Lawrence 74 69 74, Jacques Blaauw 70 72 75
218 - Jbe' Kruger 73 73 72, Jake Roos 74 72 72, Michael Palmer 73 72 73, Wallie Coetsee 73 71 74, Wynand Dingle 73 71 74
219 - Christiaan Bezuidenhout 75 72 72, Bennie van der Merwe 75 71 73, Louis de Jager 73 73 73, Ruan de Smidt 72 74 73, Ryan Tipping 73 70 76
220 - Rourke van der Spuy 74 72 74
221 - Toto Thimba 70 76 75, Jason Froneman 70 75 76
222 - Trevor Fisher Jnr 75 72 75, Combrinck Smit 75 72 75, Luke Jerling 71 75 76, Hennie Otto 71 7576, Jake Redman 72 70 80, David McIntyre 70 72 80
224 - Herman Loubser 76 71 77
225 - Riekus Nortje 77 70 78
228 - DK Kim 74 73 81