Not the winner the local fans envisioned at the start of the day, Chris Paisley was flawless en route to his maiden win at the BMW SA Open, writes WADE PRETORIUS at Glendower.
The South African national championship will once again head to England after Paisley held off favourite Branden Grace with a bogey-free 66 on Sunday.
Grace, who himself shot 68, was left to rue a double drop on the sixth after a fast start saw him briefly take the lead. The South African started like a man possessed and after an eagle on the second followed his birdie start.
You could be forgiven for thinking that it was done and dusted at that stage.
Paisley, of course, had other ideas. He saved par on the first, birdied the second and sank a lengthy birdie on the fourth to lay down a marker of his own.
It quickly became a two-horse race as the duo pulled clear of the field before Grace blinked first.
The eight-time European Tour winner and recent victor at the Nedbank Golf Challenge found the bunker on the short sixth and did not escape with his first shot. He would compound his mistake with a two-putt to fall behind Paisley – a lead that he would not surrender.
Paisley flexed his muscles with a birdie on the 10th and when Grace found the water off the tee with a cautious layup drive, even the most ardent of local fans was starting to lose faith.
Grace made bogey to fall five behind, a margin too big for even him to make up. He would give it a go, however, as he tapped in an eagle on 13, birdied 15 and almost holed out from the bunker for eagle on 16, but the ever-consistent Paisley was unmoved.
He also putted for birdie on the 13th and matched Grace with a sand-save birdie on 15. Paisley then found greens and fairways in regulation on the way home for his breakthrough victory and a tournament total of -21, three better than Grace.
‘I’m just so happy with how the week went and to get the win, for not only myself and Keri, but for everyone that’s stood behind me. It’s unbelievable,’ Paisley said.
‘I still can’t believe it. Going head-to-head against Branden, in his home country with pretty much everyone in the crowd on his side was tough but I just played great.
‘I played out of my skin. I didn’t even think I was capable of playing that well to be honest, and to come out on top in such a wonderful place is amazing.’
History for Grace will have to wait as he missed out on becoming the first player to win the Alfred Dunhill, the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the SA Open.
For Paisley, besides the comfort of securing his Tour Card for next season and the €159 669 – just short of half his earnings last season – the Hexham-born golfer leaves South Africa with the sense that he belongs following four years without a win at any level and a number misses including the 2015 BMW International Open, 2016 Italian Open and last season’s Made In Denmark.
Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images
