Craig Hinton came from three shots back to win the Joburg City Masters at Glendower Golf Club after carding an impressive four-under-par 68 to finish on seven-under-par for the tournament.
Hinton held his never brilliantly till the 18th hole, hitting his approach shot to under a foot to claim the title by two-strokes from four other golfer on five-under-par.
‘It was a good yardage for the club I had. I was a little indecisive – I mean I slightly pulled it, but it was nice to have a tap-in,’ said Hinton about his finish on the challenging par-four 18th at Glendower Golf Club.
Hinton’s brilliant approach shot on the 18th wasn’t his only special moment during the final round. An eagle-two at the par-four seventh sparked the momentum for his title run.
‘It was a slow start, but the eagle on seven sort of kick-started the round. I had a couple birdies after that and it kind of gave me a chance to win the tournament,’ explained Hinton.
Having started the day three shots back off Siphiwe Siphayi, Hinton didn’t reach his goal of 10-under-par for the tournament, but a collapse from the final group of Siphayi and Bryn Flanagan left the door open for the Englishman.
‘I though I’d get to 10 – 10 was in my head. When I got to seven early through the front nine I thought there were a lot of chances on the back nine. I looked at the scoreboard at four and no one really had made the charge. I just sort of made par coming in,’ said Hinton.
His approach of looking at the leaderboards throughout the round is one some golfers don’t agree with, but for him it’s a way of calming himself and knowing what he needs to do.
‘I looked at every single one. Yeah it’s good to know here you are. Walking up 18 I even asked one of the rules officials what the guys were doing behind. I think you need to know what you need to do up the last and if you can take a risk or not take a risk,’ explained Hinton.
Having claimed the title at the BMW SA Open Championship venue, Hinton isn’t getting ahead of himself, but a return to the prestigious layout is one that he hopes to achieve.
‘Yeah I love the golf course. It suites my eye the whole way around and there wasn’t one tee shot I didn’t enjoy. It’s a great golf course in great condition and I look forward to coming back sometime,’ said Hinton.
Scores:
209 – Craig Hinton (ENG) 71 70 68
211 – N.J. Arnoldi (RSA) 77 68 66, David Ashley (ENG) 77 68 66, Omar Sandys (RSA) 74 70 67, Riekus Nortje (RSA) 73 69 69
212 – Francois Coetzee (RSA) 77 71 64, Jaco Prinsloo (RSA) 69 77 66, Sipho Bujela (RSA) 72 72 68
213 – Luke Joy (ENG) 73 72 68, Pieter Kruger (RSA) 74 67 72, Siphiwe Siphayi (RSA) 74 64 75
214 – Allan Versfeld (RSA) 78 68 68, Bryce Easton (RSA) 75 70 69, Keenan Davidse (RSA) 73 71 70
