Jared Harvey sealed his maiden Sunshine Tour victory on Saturday when he shot a final round one-under-par 71 at the Vodacom Origins of Golf event at Zimbali Country Club.
He cruised to a four-stroke victory over Louis de Jager on a total 12-under-par 204, after taking control from the first round when he shot an opening round 65 in windy conditions on Thursday. He followed that up with another convincing round of 69 on moving day and sealed his maiden victory resoundingly.
‘To finally cross that line, I’m overjoyed,’ Harvey remarked.
‘I mean, the last time I felt a real high and elation was obviously winning the South African Amateur Stroke Play and that was a long time ago. I was really hoping to cross that line today and remember how it was to feel that big feeling again.’
A very competitive character by nature, even though it seemed he was cruising to victory from very early on, Harvey was still very meticulous in playing the final round.’I thought anything under-par was going to be tough to beat,’ he said of his approach to the final round.
‘With a seven-shot lead, I thought anything under-par would do it, but my goal for the day, at least, was to shoot two-under. I got off to a great start, made some hell-of-a good putts again and I was four-under through eight and in absolute cruise control,’ he said.
He added that despite being on the front foot for much of the tournament, he stumbled a bit on the homeward nine where he made three bogeys and a single birdie on 17, but was happy to have held on.
Behind Harvey, De Jager finished on eight-under-par 208 after he shot a final round four-under-par 68, while Jonathan Agren of Sweden finished third on six-under.
Keenan Davidse finished fourth on four-under, while Vaughn Groenewald, American Kyle Pilgrim, Adilson Da Silva and Andre Nel share fifth on three-under.
Jean Hugo and Christiaan Basson shared ninth.
