Zander Lombard finally got over the line when he claimed his first Sunshine Tour title after defeating Jake Roos in the first playoff hole of the Vodacom Origins of Golf at Zebula on Saturday.
Both players had finished on 10-under-par 206 for the tournament, with both shooting 66s in the final round but Roos made a bogey while Lombard’s par was enough to see him through.
‘The weather played into my favour today,’ he said after his six-under 66 final round. ‘I got out there early and made a few early birdies and I just kept the ball rolling. But in the afternoon the wind really started picking up but luckily, I came out with the win.’
Going into the final round six shots off the pace set by Daniel van Tonder, Lombard went birdie, par and birdie in his opening three holes, and five pars later, he picked up another birdie to turn in 33. His back nine was just as solid despite the bogey he made on the tricky par-three 17th. That, however, was insignificant in relation to the four birdies he picked up coming home.
‘I was driving it phenomenally this week,’ he said of his mindset going into the playoff with Roos, whose track record for winning titles on a playoff is there for all to see. ‘So, I just hit a fantastic tee shot down the centre of the fairway, hit a pretty easy 4-iron into the middle of the green after Jake had to lay up. I was just thinking “play the best shot”.’
Having come so close to winning on so many occasions, including the 2016 Joburg Open, Lombard recognises that this was a long overdue victory.
‘It’s amazing,’ he said. ‘It’s my first Sunshine Tour victory. It’s been a long time coming because I have had a few close ones but just could not clinch the title. It’s a relief off my shoulders and hopefully, I keep this confidence and momentum going forward.’
Roos’ front nine was a little more solid than Lombard’s as he turned in 31 after making five birdies there. On the back nine, however, he made only three birdies compared to Lombard’s four, and to make matters even trickier, he dropped shots on the 16th and the 17th. His stray tee shot forced him to lay up and go for the greens in three and eventually, he would pick up a bogey there which handed Lombard the victory after he made par.
Final leaderboard:
206 – Zander Lombard 72 68 66
206 – Jake Roos 71 69 66
207 – JC Ritchie 66 70 71, Jaco Prinsloo 68 67 72
208 – Doug McGuigan 67 72 69, Toto Thimba 67 70 71, Thriston Lawrence 68 67 73
209 – Neil Schietekat 65 71 73
210 – Herman Loubser 70 71 69, Anthony Michael 72 69 69, Wynand Dingle 72 67 71
211 – Alex Haindl 66 70 75
212 – Shaun Norris 72 69 71, Victor Lange 70 69 73, Pieter Moolman 69 70 73, Chris Cannon 71 72
69, Daniel van Tonder 67 67 78
213 – Duane Keun 70 71 72, Philip Eriksson 71 70 72, Louis Albertse 69 73 71, Luke Jerling 72 70 71, Jean Hugo 69 70 74, Jade Buitendag 70 73 70, Garth Mulroy 69 69 75, Andrew Curlewis 72 71 70
214 – Andre Nel 69 72 73, Rhys West 71 69 74, Merrick Bremner 75 67 72, Martin Rohwer 72 70 72, Anton Haig 74 65 75, Colin Nel 64 75 75
215 – Mark Williams 70 71 74, Wallie Coetsee 70 71 74, David McIntyre 69 71 75, Jonathan Agren 69 71 75, Hennie du Plessis 73 66 76, Matt Bright 72 71 72, Chris Swanepoel 70 73 72
216 – Allister de Kock 68 73 75, Erhard Lambrechts 70 72 74, Makhetha Mazibuko 73 70 73
217 – Desvonde Botes 70 70 77, Andre De Decker 73 68 76, Titch Moore 68 75 74
218 – Louis de Jager 70 73 75
219 – Tyrone Ferreira 72 71 76, James Pennington 73 70 76
220 – Kyle McClatchie 74 69 77
225 – Jabulane Mabilane 68 75 82
Photo: Shaun Roy/Sunshine Tour/Gallo Images
