Persistent Watson wins Volvo SA Mid-Amateur
A birdie on the 10th and a Seve Ballesteros-style bunker shot on the 12th boosted Graeme Watson's flagging confidence and carried the Ebotse golfer to victory, at the Volvo South African Mid-Amateur Stroke Play Championship, on Friday, May 9.
Watson carded rounds of 70, 71, 70 and 73 at Ruimsig Country Club, to claim a four-shot victory over Modderfontein’s Steve Williams, on a winning score of four-under-par 284.
In the last three years, the country’s former number one notched a fourth, a third and a second in the prestigious championship, and not even a bogey finish could detract from his joy at lifting the title.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” the 47-year-old said.
“I didn’t think I would get the chance to win this championship.
“It has been touch and go with my knee injury and I had to curtail my schedule, so this was really do or die.
“The wind was pumping and the course was playing very, very tough, and I thought I threw it away at the start.
“I’m pleased that I clawed my way back to win, because this is a huge box ticked in my career.”
Watson set out with a four-shot overnight lead, but a triple bogey start nearly ruined his chances.
“I three-putted the first and third holes,” he said.
“That opened the door for Steve, who picked up two birdies to close the gap.
“The birdie at the 10th gave me a little breathing room, but when I plugged my tee shot in the face of the first fairway bunker, on the 12th, I thought it was game over.”
Watson, who held the number one spot in the mid-amateur rankings for more than two years, is renowned on the mid-amateur circuit for his remarkable short game, but now he can add trap shots to his repertoire.
With one leg in the sand, he pulled off the shot of the tournament, when he mailed the trap shot 265m, to finish eight feet from the pin.
Boosted by the par-save, Watson picked up another birdie on the 14th.
A perfect tee shot to three feet on the par-three 17th served another birdie, and got Watson back to five under.
Standing on the 18th tee, with a four-shot lead, Watson took a gamble and paid the price.
“The 18th was always going to be a gamble,” he said.
“The tee was set right at the back, so a three-wood brings the water on the right into play and driver the water on the left.
“If you laid up, you couldn’t get it past the bunkers, so I went with driver and caught the water on the left.
“It’s one of those things; you just have to look ahead.
“My second caught the greenside bunker and I hit a pretty decent trap shot, but then left the putt short.
“But this is one of those times I didn’t mind a bogey finish at all.”
