Resilient Van Velzen clinches second IGT title in dramatic style at Waterkloof
One of South Africa's most exciting young golfers has just achieved his second victory in a few weeks in the Sunshine Big Easy IGT tournament at Waterkloof Golf Club.
The young upcoming golf sensation, Ryan van Velzen, kept up the trend of GolfRSA amateurs winning on the Sunshine Big Easy IGT when he claimed a composed come-from-behind in the IGT Chase to #11 Waterkloof on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old Van Velzen pieced together a bogey-free final round of six-under 66 to total a tournament score of 19-under-par 197 and snatch victory right under the nose of Jonathan Waschefort.
This makes it two wins in five weeks now for Van Velzen, with the teenager having triumphed in the Big Easy Tour Road To #1 at Services Golf Club in Pretoria mid-October.
“It feels amazing. Jonathan played really well today. I just had to keep my composure and stick to my basics,” said Van Velzen after a tightly-contested final round.
Coming into the final round three shots adrift, Van Velzen had to dig deep to unsettle Waschefort who, despite playing solidly the whole week, could not avoid the big numbers on his card. His final round of 70 took his total to 18-under and was defeated by a single shot at the end.
Van Velzen’s round was characterised by a solitary eagle on the par-four fifth, birdies on 14 and 17 plus a closing eagle to seal off another impressive week for the East Rand player.
“I just hit it so well today. I just played a really solid round of golf. I just tried to stay patient even when the putts weren’t dropping. My chip in on 17 really got me going but I am happy to get it done,” Van Velzen concluded.
Waschefort, who must settle for second this week, will rue the missed chances because following his back-to-back rounds of 64, his maiden win was not too far out of reach. Veteran campaigner, Heinrich Bruiners, walks away with a third-place finish this week on a total of 15-under-par.
Albert Venter from Silver Lakes finished fourth at 13-under while Vaughn van Deventer goes home with a fifth-spot placing at 12-under.
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