PORT EDWARD (KwaZulu-Natal) – Jaco Ahlers showed the experience of a mature golfer and the determination that comes from plenty of hard work as he withstood the threat of the on-fire duo of Shaun Norris and Brandon Stone to claim a one-stroke victory in the SunBet Challenge hosted by the Wild Coast Sun on Friday.
The 42-year-old held a four-stroke lead going into the final round, but with the weather having turned favourable after two days of strong wind, Norris and Stone launched a ferocious charge for the top of the leaderboard.
Norris, who has won 13 times around the world, produced a tremendous round after an early bogey on the par-four second hole. Thereafter the 2021/22 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy winner reeled off three birdies and an eagle on the front nine, and collected another six birdies on the back nine. Norris played the stretch of holes from the seventh to the 12th in six-under-par, and he needed a birdie at the last to shoot 59.
Norris could only make par on the par-four last hole, leaving him with a 60 for 11-under-par overall.
Stone, meanwhile, produced a superb, bogey-free seven-under-par 63 to finish on 12-under for the tournament, just failing to add to his five professional titles.
When Ahlers double-bogeyed the par-four ninth and then dropped another shot on the par-three 13th, he slipped to 11-under, tied with Norris and with Stone charging. But the now 12-time winner overcame a tough day for him by knuckling down when it really mattered and birdied the par-four 15th and then the par-five 16th, before finishing with two pars.
“I made it tough for myself. Conditions were good but it was a fighting day for me, full of poor ball-striking,” Ahlers said after his second professional win at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club. “But I just had to keep going. I felt it was my tournament the whole day, that kept me going and I didn’t think of losing.
“My experience definitely helped and counted for a lot in the end. It was a bad golfing day, but I always thought the tournament was mine to lose.”
Having seen what Norris had done when he teed off on the 10th, Ahlers then saw Stone’s score on the 15th. He responded with a drive that left him with an ideal number to hit a sand-wedge at the flag, hit it close and then holed the putt.
On 16 he hit an even better tee-shot, describing it as the most crucial shot of his round, leaving him with an easy iron into the green and a birdie.
While Ahlers’ two-putt for par and victory on the 18th may have looked devoid of drama, he said he still felt like he had a mountain to climb on the last hole.
“There’s always drama on 18! But I hit a good shot and then hit a wedge away from the flag, for a reasonable two-putt for par. It may have looked drama-less, but there’s always those thoughts in your head,” Ahlers said.
But the Centurion resident silenced those negative thoughts in impressive fashion, signing for a final-round 69 for 13-under-par.
