Dylan Naidoo led through 54 holes at the Junior Golf World Cup, but was undone by Joaquin Niemann’s winning round of 62 on the par-71 layout at Chukyo Golf Club.
Naidoo had all the cards in his hand after scoring 66, 68, and 65 to reach the final round with a five-shot lead, but the pressure of the moment played into his last round of 73.
SA’s number one amateur has a glittering record and won the Big Easy Tour event at Observatory Golf Club while playing off a special invitation. He plans to play college golf at the University of Arkansas, and this week’s result of sole second will help him on that path.
The 18-year-old joined Marco Steyn, Hermanus Loubser, and Dylan Mostert for the team competition and SA finished tied-fourth on 20-under.
The US team won on 36-under, followed by Germany on 27-under, Thailand on 22-under, and then SA and Korea shared fourth.
It was a good week of golf for the youngsters, who seldom get to play 72-hole tournaments while learning the ropes.
