Prinsloo survives final round at Simola for maiden victory
Jaco Prinsloo from The Els Club, Copperleaf in Centurion claimed his maiden Sunshine Tour victory last week.
Even though he’d built up a good lead going into the final round, Pretoria’s Jaco Prinsloo wasn’t able to relax and enjoy himself on his way to his maiden Sunshine Tour victory, which he claimed by a single stroke in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final at Simola Golf and Country Estate in Knysna last week.
Prinsloo made three birdies and three bogeys in his final round of level-par, in stark contrast to his opening pair of eight-under 64s, but his 16-under-par overnight total was enough to give him the edge over perennial runner-up Ockie Strydom.
“Relieved, I guess is the word. It was a tough day out there. I was very nervous. I hit decent shots but I was always so scared to make a mistake, and I knew the guys were going to be gunning for me,” laughed Prinsloo afterwards.
Besides Strydom, who left his charge a little late with four birdies in the final seven holes, Prinsloo had to keep a wary eye on Doug McGuigan, who had already won two Vodacom Origins of Golf tournaments this season.
McGuigan carded a three-under-par 69 to finish two off the pace.
Prinsloo was only too aware of the threat posed by Strydom and McGuigan, and tried to keep his attention on his own play.
“I didn’t look at the leaderboards until the 15th. With three holes left, I wanted to know if I should push or just play solidly for the last couple of holes. At that point, Doug was just one behind me, so I knew there was no room for mistakes. But luckily I finished with three pars,” he said.
Prinsloo became the sixth first-time winner on the Sunshine Tour this season. In doing so, he played his way into the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at the end of the month. It’s the first of the big summer tournaments on the Sunshine Tour schedule, and he’s thrilled to be going there.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet that I get to play Mauritius, but it’s going to be lovely to go there and play in a tri-sanctioned event just before the Joburg Open, which is also tri-sanctioned now,” he concluded.
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