SOUTH AFRICA’s Jake Roos rallied from behind to hold off his compatriot Darren Fichardt and Italy’s Francesco Laporta to clinch a nail-biting one-shot victory in the Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open at Royal Harare Golf Club yesterday. Report by Daniel Nhakaniso
The 32-year-old golfer, who trailed the leading pack by four shots heading into the final round, birdied three of his last six holes including an audacious chip-in birdie on the difficult par-three 15th to card an impressive final round five-under par 67 to finish on 13-under par 274.
Fichardt and Laporta, who had gone into the final round carrying a three-shot, struggled on the front nine before rallying back to finish on 13-under-par 275 although they had a chance to force a playoff on the par-four 18th.
The 2001 Zimbabwe Open champion, Fichardt’s, was left holding his head in horror after his 45-foot birdie putt from the fringe of the green curled the hole for a lip-out, while Laporta failed to convert his 15-foot putt much to the relief of Roos, who was delighted with his win.
“It’s really awesome to have my name alongside guys like Nick Price and Vijay Singh. This event is awesome and can grow even more and more because the golf course is exceptional and the greens are really high quality and it’s not a surprise that all the top guys have played here in the past.”
Roos said the turning point for him came on the back nine where he managed three birdies in his last six holes.
“I started off well and struggled a bit in the middle, but then I really finished strong again on the back nine. At the beginning of the back nine I saw that no one was really pulling away and that I still had a great chance and from then on things started to happen for me. I think what turned it around was the chip-in at the 15th and it really got me going”
Yesterday’s win was Roos’ fifth on the Sunshine Tour and saw him walk away with a cool R261 525 and the converted trophy which he was presented with by the guest of honour Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Laporta and Fichardt walked away with R151 950 each.
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The South African pair of Doug McGuigan and Lindani Ndwandwe were tied for fourth position on 12-under 276 while their compatriot Jaco Ahlers finished in sixth position on 11-under 277.
Zimbabwe’s highest ranked player on the Sunshine Tour, Ryan Cairns, finished as the highest professional for the second successive year after carding a final four-under par 68 to finish on 10-under par 278 and tied for 10th position on the leaderboard.
For his efforts Cairns walked away with R39 311,25.
US-based Zimbabwean amateur golfer was the second highest placed local golfer after ending in a tie for 37th on level par 288.
Crocker was presented with a floating trophy and a certificate for finishing as the highest placed amateur golfer on the field.
Another local amateur golfer Ben-Follet Smith, also stole the limelight from most of the professional golfers after finishing as the third best local in a tie for position 42 on one-over par 289.
