Danie Van Tonder has sealed his maiden victory clinching the Investec Royal Swazi Open in style beating fellow Rhode Island brand ambassador Jacques Blaauw.
Danie van Tonder birdied his last three holes in a row and signed for a 63 (18 points) to contend for the Investec Royal Swazi Open title. He finished in a tie for the lead on 48 points, which meant a sudden-death playoff with Jacques Blaauw and Jared Harvey.
The Investec Royal Swazi Open is a very unique event in that it uses a modified stableford scoring system that awards 8 points for an albatross, 5 points for an eagle, 2 for a birdie and none for a par. One point is deducted for a bogey and 3 are deducted for a double-bogey or worse.
At the first playoff hole, the 18th, the 23 year old hit his tee shot to eight feet. He calmly sank the putt for birdie and celebrated his maiden victory on the Sunshine Tour, a victory that is well deserved after recording a number of runner-up finishes and fifteen Top 10’s in three years.
“Playing 16 I saw that I was behind and had to make three birdies in a row, which I managed to do,” said Danie van Tonder. “There are always nerves, that’s not the question, it’s about how you cope with it. I love pressure so I just got over the putts and hit them in the hole.”
“Once I made those three birdies I had the confidence and I was keen to compete in the playoff. After waiting for three years I’ve finally got the win, and there’s nothing better than winning in a playoff,” he said.
Danie Van Tonder now moves up to fourth on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit with earnings just shy of R3 000 000 and gets his Chase to the 2015 Investec Cup off to a great start!
Rhode Island ambassador Jacques Blaauw once again contended for a Sunshine Tour title and recorded 11 points on Saturday followed by 12 on Sunday. During regulation play the three-time Sunshine Tour winner had a 15-foot birdie putt at the 18th that would have secured the outright win, but he left it one centimetre short.
All in all it was a great week for Rhode Island with two of our ambassadors finishing in the Top 2, another impressive event on the Sunshine Tour.