Yurav Premlall was “over the moon” following his maiden Sunshine Tour triumph at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Sishen tournament on Sunday.
Premlall has been in tremendous form this season, finishing second twice, racking up two third-place finishes and three other top-15 placings. But the Glendower golfer said he did not feel like a breakthrough win was definitely just around the corner.
When Premlall stood on the 1st tee in the final round on Sunday, he was four strokes behind leader Deon Germishuys. And that rapidly became five behind as he bogeyed the par-four 1st hole.
But then his precision golf kicked in and Premlall did not drop another shot, while collecting birdies on the 2nd, 5th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 14th and 15th holes.
His six-under-par 66 saw him finish on 11 under par, good enough for a one-stroke victory over Martin Vorster (70 for 10 under par).
“I’m over the moon,” Premlall said afterwards. “The win felt like a long time coming, but you can never be certain that you are going to win in this game. So to get over the line for the first time is very special. It’s taken lots of hard work to get this far.
“My frame of mind today was no different to how it’s been before this season. But sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t.
“The start wasn’t ideal, but I just stayed very patient. I hit a couple of shots close to the hole, I holed a few good putts but I missed a few as well. I guess 26 putts and the result speak differently, though.
“But my iron play was phenomenal, every time I was in-position, even when I had to get up-and-down, the ball was in the right spots. I was very tidy around the green.”
Premlall has now overtaken Daniel van Tonder at the top of the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy, and he says staying at the top of the local circuit will be his main focus for the rest of the year.
“At the start of the year I set myself the goal of really contending in the Order of Merit and trying to get into the top three by the end of the lucrative Tour Championship. I don’t want to have too many eggs in different baskets and you’ll see me a lot more on our Tour for the remainder of the year, that’s my focus.”
Vorster started well, with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes putting him in the lead. But one could sense bogeys at the par-four 7th and especially the par-five 11th holes would prove costly. Even though Vorster birdied the 14th and 15th holes, so did Premlall and two bogeys to the winner’s one would prove the difference.
Rookie Simon du Plooy enjoyed his best ever Sunshine Tour performance as he shot a 68 to finish third on nine under par. The Krugersdorp golfer put himself right in contention with an eagle on the par-five 15th, but he then double-bogeyed the par-four 16th to slip back. He was joined in third place by Lyle Rowe, whose 68 was bogey-free.
Germishuys struggled to a 73 on Sunday that left him on eight under par, alongside Matthew Spacey and Heinrich Bruiners, who both posted 69s.
Malcolm Mitchell stayed on seven under par to finish eighth, while rookie Kyle de Beer shot a 71 to finish tied for ninth on six under par with the seasoned trio of Van Tonder (67), MJ Viljoen (68) and Neil Schietekat (71).
Photo: Tyrone Winfield/Sunshine Tour
