Super putt nails victory for McClatchie
His victory follows a third place finish in the Irene Challenge and a runner-up finish on the Big Easy Tour in July
KYLE McClatchie (19), the first golfer to fly the flag for South Africa in golf’s first staging at the Youth Olympics in 2014, sealed a sensational maiden IGT Tour win in the Kyalami Challenge on Wednesday last week.
The Ekurhuleni amateur holed a 25-foot clutch putt for birdie at the closing hole at Kyalami Country Club for a two under par final round 70 to claim a one-shot victory at five under 211 in just his second start on the country’s premier development tour.
The victory follows a third place finish in the Irene Challenge and a runner-up finish on the Big Easy Tour in July. McClatchie was simply delighted with the result, even if it came at the expense of fellow amateur, Tristen Strydom.
“I can’t tell you how good this feels, because it’s been a long time coming,” said the country’s former number one ranked junior.
“I knew it would be a battle. Tristen and I both play out of Serengeti, we both play for Ekurhuleni and we’ve competed against each other for years. He is a class player and you can see that the back injury of last year is a thing of the past.
“When he won the Irene Challenge, he began showing the form that took him to the number one spot in the rankings and I knew I had to bring my A-game to beat him.”
The pair began the final round at three under with a one-shot lead, but McClatchie battled to keep his place at the top of the leader board.
“I was trailing Tristen by two after dropping shots at the second and third, but I got back to level with good birdies at four and six,” he said. “Then I made an ugly bogey at seven when my second shot came up short in the bunker and I couldn’t up-and-down to save par.
“I hit my best shot of the day, though, when I chipped from the short side of the green at eight and made the birdie putt to get back to level. That gave me some momentum again to take into the back nine.”
After a bogey at four, Strydom rushed into the lead with birdies at four and seven, but he dealt his title hunt a blow with a double bogey on the par-five ninth. That error handed McClatchie a one-shot lead into the back nine and his gains at 13 and 18 proved decisive when Strydom dropped another shot at 11.
“I stayed patient and played for pars to give myself a chance over the closing holes. At the first par five, I was on the green in two and made two good putts for birdie. Tristen was chasing again after birdies at 13 and 14 and I only had a one-shot lead when we reached 18.
“I hit a three-wood off the tee and stayed on the fairway and his tee shot ended in the trees. Then he threaded a brilliant shot through the trees just short of the green, so the pressure was on. I left my approach 40 metres short and chipped to 25 feet. It was a big putt but I holed it to match Tristen’s birdie to win.”
