Peter Karmis put up the fight of his life to win his second title of the 2017-18 Sunshine Tour season when he defeated a rejuvenated Jake Roos on the first playoff hole of the 54-hole R750,000 Sun City Challenge on Friday.
He came into the final round three shots behind the leading Roos, but eventually finished on six-under-par for the tournament. In what was a decent round on the final day, Karmis made three birdies and two bogeys and that was enough to land him in the playoff, after Riekus Nortje relinquished his lead for the day when he looked like he’d win.
‘This was a little unexpected,’ said Karmis, ‘but any win is the nicest win. I’m not too fussy about how it comes.’
He won the Investec Royal Swazi Open in May for his fourth Sunshine Tour title, and this second title of the year has set the 36-year-old, who plays out of Clovelly in Cape Town, up nicely for the year.
‘I’m very pleased,’ he said. ‘I’ve been working hard and I think I’m starting to be able to get into the mix and give myself a chance. Look, I was lucky today. Jake hit it in the hazard on the playoff hole, and also, I birdied the 18th to get into the playoff. That pin was just about in the bunker,’ he said, laughing.
The reality, though, was that Karmis played it smart on the playoff hole, even though he pushed his tee shot to the trees on the right of the fairway on the iconic ninth at Gary Player Country Club. He laid up and then hit a five-iron punch shot to about 100 yards, then placed himself 20 feet beyond the tight pin.
‘I always lay up,’ said Karmis. ‘Even if I striped it down there, I was laying up. Normally I’m quite bold, but I just didn’t have the right club for the yardage. And I definitely wouldn’t have gone for the flag.
‘In regulation, I laid up with a gap wedge. Pretty lame, I know, and then I hit another gap wedge in close. That was the original strategy on the playoff hole.’
Roos, on the other hand, tried to reach the green in two. He sent his second shot into the inside edge of the water and failed to make the putt to send the playoff to an additional hole after he took his penalty.
‘It’s absolutely wonderful to win a second time this season,’ said Karmis. ‘I’m very pleased. I felt like I needed it as well. You always need a win.’
Final leaderboard:
210 – Peter Karmis 71 69 70
210 – Jake Roos 66 71 73
211 – Jean Hugo 68 73 70
212 – Adilson Da Silva 68 77 67, Breyten Meyer 69 72 71, Keith Horne 71 70 71, Riekus Nortje 70 68 74
213 – Jbe’ Kruger 71 72 70, Justin Harding 71 71 71
214 – Christiaan Basson 70 74 70
215 – Haydn Porteous 67 77 71, Jaco Prinsloo 68 76 71, Omar Sandys 69 74 72, Danie Van Niekerk 70 70 75, Jacques Kruyswijk 71 68 76
216 – Jean-Paul Strydom 71 75 70, Neil Schietekat 69 76 71, Alex Haindl 73 69 74, Tyrone Ferreira 68 73 75
217 – Makhetha Mazibuko 71 76 70, Anthony Michael 73 72 72, Louis de Jager 73 69 75
218 – Wynand Dingle 76 71 71, Ulrich van den Berg 74 69 75
219 – Jason Viljoen 71 76 72, Andrew van der Knaap 70 77 72, Matthew Spacey 74 72 73, MJ Viljoen 72 73 74, Gert Myburgh 70 73 76
220 – Hennie Otto 75 72 73, Zander Lombard 73 72 75, Jared Harvey 68 74 78
221 – Scott Campbell 74 73 74, Ryan Tipping 72 75 74, Rourke van der Spuy 75 72 74, Jacquin Hess 69 77 75, Desne Van Den Bergh 74 71 76
222 – Titch Moore 73 74 75, Combrinck Smit 74 72 76
223 – Jason Froneman 75 72 76, Mark Williams 67 80 76, Tyrone Ryan 73 74 76
224 – Mark Murless 70 76 78
225 – Dean Burmester 79 67 79, Michael Palmer 71 75 79, Andre Nel 76 70 79
228 – Sipho Bujela 76 70 82
Photo: Luke Walker/Sunshine Tour/Gallo Images
