Jaco Ahlers showed the experience of a mature golfer and the determination that comes from plenty of hard work as he withstood the threat of the on-fire duo of Shaun Norris and Brandon Stone to claim a one-stroke victory in the SunBet Challenge hosted by the Wild Coast Sun on Friday.
The 42-year-old held a four-stroke lead going into the final round but with the weather having turned favourable after two days of strong wind, Norris and Stone launched a ferocious charge for the top of the leaderboard.
Norris, who has won 13 times around the world, produced a tremendous round after an early bogey on the par-four second hole. Thereafter the 2021/22 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy winner reeled off three birdies and an eagle on the front nine and collected another six birdies on the back nine. Norris played the stretch of holes from the seventh to the 12th in six-under-par and he needed a birdie at the last to shoot 59.
Norris could only make par on the par-four last hole, leaving him with a 60 for 11-under-par overall.
Stone, meanwhile, produced a superb, bogey-free seven-under-par 63 to finish on 12-under for the tournament, just failing to add to his five professional titles.
When Ahlers double-bogeyed the par-four ninth and then dropped another shot on the par-three 13th, he slipped to 11-under, tied with Norris and with Stone charging. But the now 12-time winner overcame a tough day for him by knuckling down when it really mattered and birdied the par-four 15th and then the par-five 16th, before finishing with two pars.
“I made it tough for myself. Conditions were good but it was a fighting day for me, full of poor ball-striking,” Ahlers said after his second professional win at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club. “But I just had to keep going. I felt it was my tournament the whole day, that kept me going and I didn’t think of losing.
“My experience definitely helped and counted for a lot in the end. It was a bad golfing day but I always thought the tournament was mine to lose.”
Having seen what Norris had done when he teed off on the 10th, Ahlers then saw Stone’s score on the 15th. He responded with a drive that left him with an ideal number to hit a sand-wedge at the flag, hit it close and then holed the putt.
On 16 he hit an even better tee-shot, describing it as the most crucial shot of his round, leaving him with an easy iron into the green and a birdie.
While Ahlers’ two-putt for par and victory on the 18th may have looked devoid of drama, he said he still felt like he had a mountain to climb on the last hole.
“There’s always drama on 18! But I hit a good shot and then hit a wedge away from the flag, for a reasonable two-putt for par. It may have looked drama-less but there’s always those thoughts in your head,” Ahlers said.
But the Centurion resident silenced those negative thoughts in impressive fashion, signing for a final-round 69 for 13-under-par.
Scores
197 - Jaco Ahlers 64 64 69
198 - Brandon Stone 68 67 63
199 - Shaun Norris 68 71 60
201 - Keegan Mclachlan 66 66 69
202 - Pieter Moolman 67 73 62, Gerhard Pepler 67 66 69
204 - Joe Long 73 66 65, Ricky Hendler 68 71 65, Neil Schietekat 69 68 67, Jacques Blaauw 70 66 68, Stefan Wears-Taylor 70 66 68
205 - Ruan Korb 68 68 69
206 - Robson Chinhoi 69 72 65, Danie Van Niekerk 73 66 67, Tristin Galant 69 70 67, Hennie O'Kennedy 69 70 67, Nikhil Rama 68 70 68, Fredrik From 70 68 68, Jaco Van Zyl 67 71 68
207 - James Mack 74 67 66, Lyle Rowe 69 72 66, Jacques P de Villiers 67 72 68, Rourke van der Spuy 69 70 68, Daniel van Tonder 71 68 68, Jake Redman 68 70 69
208 - Combrinck Smit 71 70 67, Jbe' Kruger 69 71 68, Nick Cunningham 73 66 69, Thanda Mavundla 70 69 69, Haydn Porteous 69 68 71, Colin Nel 69 67 72
209 - CJ du Plessis 71 71 67, Ruan de Smidt 70 71 68, Trevor Fisher Jnr 69 71 69, Keenan Davidse 70 69 70, Jason Roets 69 68 72
210 - Jean Hugo 70 70 70, Quintin Wilsnach 71 69 70, Jaco Prinsloo 70 68 72
211 - Lyle Pedro 70 71 70, Andre De Decker 68 73 70
212 - Sentanio Minnie 70 72 70, Callum Mowat 68 74 70, Graham van der Merwe 69 73 70, Luke Brown 70 72 70, Leon Vorster 67 72 73
213 - Franklin Manchest 69 71 73
214 - Yurav Premlall 68 74 72, Martin Rohwer 72 69 73
216 - Herman Loubser 71 71 74
219 - Dylan O'Leary 71 71 77
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