In a repeat of last year’s countdown, South African golf fans are facing the anxious wait to see whether or not a rookie will line up in golf’s most select field at Augusta National.
Dylan Frittelli, now a PGA TOUR member, managed to secure his spot after his lengthy run towards a place in The Masters, and now local observers are glued to the progress of Justin Harding.
His meteoric rise, which was capped by his maiden European Tour win at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters two weeks ago, took a massive upward turn on continental soil on Sunday as the Stellenbosch GC star made a dash at the Magical Kenya Open.
Despite closing with a 66, he was forced to settle for a share of second. The upside? A result good enough to see him move inside the top 50 in the world in the latest Official World Golf Rankings. Now he has just a few more events to ensure he maintains his place, with the cut-off for the last round of invites being the week preceding the Masters (4 April 2019).
It would appear that he has a very real chance at opening up the mail to golf’s most famed envelope.
The 33-year-old has shown a penchant for final-round brilliance, with six sub-70 rounds in his last seven final rounds this season.
Harding was pleased with his good finish in Kenya, but knows much work lies ahead including at next week’s prestigious WGC-Dell Match Play in Texas.
‘I think I’m probably still going to have to have a decent result come the match play, but I’ve at least given myself a decent shot at Augusta,’ he said.
‘I thought I played quite nicely. It was another good week, pretty pleased.
‘I’ve been playing solid golf. I’m trying to minimise mistakes, I made a couple this week that were strange, but at the end of the day you’ve just got to try and make more birdies than bogeys.
‘I had a good week last week and another one this week, so I’m sitting quite nicely first season on the European Tour.’
Harding joins Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace as the only players to qualify for the WGC-Dell Match Play.
The latter, as well as Charl Schartzel, Trevor Immelman and top amateur Jovan Rebula have already qualified for the year’s first Major at Augusta, which tees off on Thursday 11 April.
