Zimbabwean golfer Brendon de Jonge squandered another golden opportunity to finally record his maiden PGA Tour win after settling for a tie for 10th position at the Puerto Rico Open played out at the Trump International course in Rio Grande on Sunday.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
After starting the final round just two shots shy of the leaders he could only card one-under-par 71 in the final round to finish on five-under 283 after carding rounds of 71-70-71-71.
He finished two shots shy of making the five-man playoff which was eventually won by German veteran Alex Cejka.
De Jonge looked on course to finally shake the monkey off his back with birdies on his first three holes, but a disastrous triple bogey-7 at the par four fourth hole wiped away the early work. He’d bounce back with a birdie at the par-5 fifth and trade a bogey at 7 with one final birdie at the par-4 10th, but the damage had already been done as he finished two shots shy of making the playoff.
De Jonge who is now winless in 220 PGA Tour starts will try again at this week’s Valspar Championship where he finished in a tie for fifth position in 2011.
Meanwhile Zimbabwean junior golfers Justin Kersten and Kieran Vincent put up a courageous fight to finish 7th and 12th respectively at the Western Province U23 Champs 2015 at Durbanville, Cape Town on Sunday. Kersten, who has been in top form on the local amateur circuit rebounded from a disappointing 78 on Saturday to shoot a brilliant three-under par 69 on Sunday to secure a creditable top 10 finishing the 36 hole tournament. Young Vincent on the other hand opened with a solid 73 before managing to shoot 77 on the final day for a total of 6 over. The local junior golfers will be hoping to continue their good form when they tee off in the Curro South African Junior International tournament which starts today at the Durbanville Golf Course. Other Zimbabwean juniors who will be in the field include Tafadzwa, Mbongeni Maphosa, Stuart Krog, David Amm and Jack Allard, Tarisiro Fundira, Danielle Bekker, Irvine Nembaware, and Tadiwa Dzuda.
