Golf can be a terribly cruel game at times and while leader Ockie Strydom was busy racking up a quadruple-bogey eight at the par-four 11th hole, Ruan Korb was putting the finishing touches to his brilliant round of 63 by sinking yet another birdie putt on the final hole to win the Vodacom Origins of Golf St Francis Links tournament on Saturday.
Korb’s third successive birdie, to go with two-in-a-row on the 12th and 13thholes, saw him shoot an astonishing nine-under-par in the final round, leaving him on 13-under-par for the tournament.
Strydom had been on 15-under before the awful shock of his eight on the 11th, and thereafter he could only par his way through to the close, settling for a level-par 72 after being four-under at the turn. That left the 37-year-old in second place on 11-under, two behind Korb.
Veteran Doug McGuigan also challenged for the title, but bogeyed the last two holes when pushing for birdies to tie Korb, with the 52-year-old closing with a 71 that left him on nine-under and in third place for the tournament.
The 28-year-old Korb admitted that it was just one of those idyllic days when every putt he looked at, he seemed to sink.
“I really enjoyed myself out there today, the weather was better and my putting was definitely the main reason for my win, every putt just seemed to find the bottom of the cup,” Korb said.
“My putting was certainly much better than when I finished second in the SunBet Challenge Time Square in August.”
The Silver Lakes golfer, who had begun the final round seven shots off the pace, had picked up decent momentum on the front nine with three birdies and a bogey in his first four holes, but he really began pushing for the title with a brilliant run that saw him eagle the par-five sixth and then pick up shots at the next two holes.
He was now 10-under for the tournament and in striking distance, but his charge was reversed as he had a 15-minute delay at the ninth tee while the group in front searched for balls. Korb lost concentration and bogeyed both nine and 10.
“I said before the round that if I could get to 14-under then I would have a chance, but waiting on the ninth was a bit of a momentum-breaker,” Korb said.
“But after those two bogeys I just tried to get calm and said to my caddie that we have to do something now otherwise the win is going to get away from us.”
Knowing he had to be positive, Korb birdied both the par-four 12th and the par-five 13th into the westerly wind, and then, with holes 16 and 17 heading in the opposite direction, he took advantage with two more birdies.
The three on the par-four 18th was the icing on the cake for his second Sunshine Tour victory, his first coming at the Time Square Casino Challenge at Wingate Park Country Club in 2020.
“It’s a big confidence-booster to win at this time of year, with the big summer events coming up,” Korb said.
SCORES:
203 – Ruan Korb 71 69 63
205 – Ockie Strydom 66 67 72
207 – Doug McGuigan 69 67 71
208 – Hennie O’Kennedy 69 68 71
209 – Dylan Naidoo 67 67 75
210 – Bradley Bawden 72 68 70, Jayden Schaper 72 67 71, Brooklin Bailey 67 72 71, Heinrich Bruiners 65 74 71, Keenan Davidse 70 67 73
212 – Dan Erickson 69 72 71, Christiaan Basson 73 68 71, Jaco Prinsloo 67 72 73
213 – Luca Filippi 71 75 67, Wynand Dingle 72 73 68, Adam Breen 70 73 70, Hennie Otto 70 70 73, Riekus Nortje 72 67 74
214 – Jacques P de Villiers 72 73 69, Estiaan Conradie 71 71 72, MJ Viljoen 73 69 72, Herman Loubser 75 67 72
215 – James Kamte 71 69 75, Peter Karmis 69 70 76
216 – Therion Nel 72 74 70
217 – Lyle Rowe 69 77 71, Pieter Moolman 70 74 73, Kyle Barker 73 71 73, Matthew Spacey 70 72 75, Steve Surry 69 73 75, Dean O’Riley 69 70 78
218 – Rupert Kaminski 76 70 72, Jean Hugo 70 75 73
219 – Madalitso Muthiya 70 76 73, Jacques Blaauw 75 70 74, Luke Jerling 69 70 80, Jake Redman 70 69 80
220 – Wallie Coetsee 72 73 75, Sean Cronje 74 71 75, Callum Mowat 75 69 76
221 – Michael Kok 76 70 75, Richard Joubert 78 68 75, Kevin Rhoderick 70 71 80
223 – Maverick Faber 76 69 78
224 – Aneurin Gounden 72 74 78, Sean Bradley 71 74 79, Nikhil Rama 70 73 81
225 – Danie Van Niekerk 71 75 79
227 – Clancy Waugh 74 72 81
