Top-ranked going into the matchplay leg of The Amateur, Wilco Nienaber was ousted on Thursday along with Luca Filippi, leaving Jovan Rebula the lone South African in the quarter-finals.
A promising day at Royal Aberdeen turned sour late in the afternoon as Nienaber’s dreams of winning the 123rd edition of The Amateur ended on the final hole.
Tom Sloman (England) overturned an early deficit before the lead changed hands a number of times until the 18th hole decided the victor. Nienaber led after the 1st hole but never managed to take the advantage past a solitary hole as he mustered just two birdies in the round.
A birdie on the 13th saw the Bloemfontein star go 1 up but was suddenly battling to stay in the contest after a par and a bogey saw him lose two in a row. A bogey on the last was his final undoing as he exits the stage along with Filippi, who went down 4 & 3 to Sweden’s Christoffer Palsson.
Filippi, who earlier saw off Therion Nel 4 & 3, was 3 down at the turn with just three pars on his card. The Swede birdied the 12th and 13th to extend his lead before closing out the match when par halved the 15th.
Two defeats from three matches mean the young SA contingent will be out supporting Rebula on Friday.
Rebula edged Malcolm Mitchell earlier on Thursday and was looking at joining his countrymen in the scrapheap trailing 2 down through 12 with Ben Hutchinson (England) adding two birdies to his early eagle.
A run of pars from the 14th to the 17th saw Rebula win three holes and when both bogeyed the last, it was Ernie Els’ nephew who survived a gritty battle.
It is now up to Rebula to gain some revenge for Nienaber as he steps up first on Friday to battle for a place in the semi-finals.
