Thriston Lawrence claimed the win in a closely contested final round at the Vodacom Origins of Golf at Stellenbosch Golf Club by a single shot on Saturday.
Five players had a chance to walk away with the victory but it was Lawrence.
Trailing by five shots at the start of the round, the Nelspruit Golf Club representative had to dig deep to get himself into contention and he did just that. While many had their money on Jean-Paul Strydom and local men JJ Senekal and Deon Germishuys, Lawrence was quietly going about his business around the Stellenbosch track.
Three birdies, an eagle and a bogey on the front nine was always going to be a solid start to any round, but coming home and gaining confidence after each shot, Lawrence birdied the 12th and made another eagle, this time on the par-five 14th to get to 15-under-par for the tournament, a stroke ahead of Riekus Nortje, Germishuys, Strydom and Senekal.
‘I’m quite speechless,’ was the first thing he said after his round. ‘I was five shots back but I knew I was playing solidly all day. So, to get my first win is special.’
He has been playing solidly indeed this calendar year and that is proven by the three runner-up finishes he had before this all-important victory.
‘This win means a lot to me because not everybody wins,’ he said. ‘To get that breakthrough is special. I’ve been knocking on the door for quite a long time now. But it’s all down to staying patient. I knew this is not a sprint but a marathon, there’s a lot of events and I’m playing well, so I stayed patient and got it done.’
His win moves him to the top of the current Order of Merit, dethroning JC Ritchie who was not in the field this week.
Final leaderboard:
201 – Thriston Lawrence 68 68 65
202 – Riekus Nortje 66 69 67, JJ Senekal 65 70 67, Jean-Paul Strydom 63 68 71, Deon Germishuys 66 65 71
204 – Garrick Higgo 71 67 66, Stefan Wears-Taylor 65 69 70
205 – Chris Cannon 69 69 67, Hennie Otto 68 66 71
206 – Keenan Davidse 66 73 67, Estiaan Conradie 70 68 68, Erhard Lambrechts 69 67 70, Jonathan Agren 69 67 70
207 – Andrew van der Knaap 66 73 68
208 – Duane Keun 70 71 67, Toto Thimba 74 67 67, Garth Mulroy 72 67 69, Jake Roos 71 68 69, Philip Geerts 67 69 72, Martin Rohwer 67 67 74
209 – Ruan Conradie 68 73 68, Oliver Bekker 72 68 69, Jaco Ahlers 70 70 69, Trevor Fisher Jnr 67 73 69, Louis Albertse 69 68 72, Hendrikus Stoop 73 64 72, Aubrey Beckley 70 66 73
210 – James Hart du Preez 69 72 69, Kyle McClatchie 67 71 72, Luke Jerling 70 68 72
211 – Jean Hugo 69 72 70, Jake Redman 71 70 70, Pieter Moolman 69 72 70, Ruan de Smidt 72 68 71, Stephen Ferreira 71 68 72, Doug McGuigan 73 66 72, Daniel van Tonder 69 69 73, Heinrich Bruiners 69 69 73
212 – Neil Schietekat 68 73 71, Jacques P de Villiers 67 73 72, Ruan Huysamen 72 68 72, Christiaan Basson 69 70 73
213 – Alex Haindl 68 72 73
214 – Titch Moore 70 71 73, Dylan Mostert 70 71 73
