Thriston narrowly misses out on Eye of Africa PGA Championship
A win was within his reach as he headed into the weekend with a two-stroke lead.
Born and bred Lowvelder, Thriston Lawrence finished in fourth place in the recent Eye of Africa PGA Championship, for the second consecutive year.
A win was, however, within his reach as he headed into the weekend with a two-stroke lead. He was full of confidence that a victory on the main summer schedule of the Sunshine Tour was within his reach. This changed in a heartbeat, as instead Darren Fichardt added his name to the rich history of South African golf as the winner of this prestigious championship on Sunday.
Also read: Another Malan brother to face England
Fichardt beat Chile’s Matias Calderon with a birdie on the third play-off hole after both finished regulation play tied for the lead on 20 under par at the Eye of Africa Signature Golf Estate – three shots ahead of Lawrence, who ended 17 under par.
Lawrence signed for his second consecutive 66 on the Eye of Africa Signature Golf Estate course on Friday to top the leaderboard on 12 under par. He was two strokes clear of Estiaan Conradie, Bryce Easton and Hennie O’Kennedy, who signed for rounds of 65, 66 and 66, respectively.
On round four and five, Lawrence dropped three and four shots respectively, ending in fourth place overall.
He made his Sunshine Tour breakthrough on the winter schedule of the tour last year when he won the Vodacom Origins of Golf at Stellenbosch Golf Club. But a win in the summer still eludes him, although he finished fourth in last year’s Eye of Africa PGA Championship and then again came close when he finished runner-up in the Tour Championship the same year.
Also read: Thriston Lawrence from Mbombela shines in Stellenbosch
“My all-round game has been good over round one and two. I hit 17 greens in the second round. The first green I missed was on the last hole and it was a bit of a sloppy finish with that bogey,” said Lawrence, who came close to a hole-in-one on the par-three fifth hole.
Currently lying in seventh place on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, Lawrence is not planning to change a thing from the recipe that has worked for him all season.
