Aussie rules as Bautista bags Sunbet Challenge win

Austin Bautista and his caddie Keith Ramokgari, who received a caddie medallion. Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour

Austin Bautista’s brilliant 62 during Friday’s final round of the Sunbet Challenge hosted by Wild Coast Sun secured the Australian his first title on the Sunshine Tour with a one-stroke victory on 14-under par.

“I am ecstatic and super happy to have won this week. It was a hard week but securing the title was definitely worth the wait,” said Bautista.

He even managed to win despite drawing the short straw with his roommates this week.

“The boys I’m staying with gave me the worst bed, actually they put me on the couch. But I walked away with the silverware, so it was worth it in the end,” Bautista joked.

Bautista's form improved as the tournament progressed. He followed up his first round 69 with a second round score of 65. Heading into the final round only three shots behind the overall leader, Bautista opened his final round with five birdies in the first eight holes, followed by four more on the back nine. He dropped only one shot during his round.

"The Sunshine Tour is a great tour. We get to come to amazing places. The Wild Coast Sun is a beautiful layout - it's so challenging."

Bautista has been threatening a win this year, with two top-three finishes as well as an eigth-place finish leading up to this week.

Michael Hollick (66), who started the day with a one-stroke lead, finished second on 13-under par.

Samuel Simpson (66), the winner of the Mopani Zambia Open in June, shared third place with Lyle Rowe (67) on 10-under par.

Austin Bautista. Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour

Scores

196 - Austin Bautista 69 65 62

197 - Michael Hollick 66 65 66

200 - Samuel Simpson 66 68 66, Lyle Rowe 68 65 67

201 - Herman Loubser 67 69 65, Joe Knox 63 69 69, Jacques P de Villiers 63 69 69

202 - Stuart Krog 70 69 63, Pieter Moolman 70 68 64, Kyle Barker 68 70 64

203 - Ruan Conradie 73 66 64

204 - Tyran Snyders 70 69 65, Trevor Fisher Jnr 69 67 68

205 - Thanda Mavundla 71 69 65, Gerhard Pepler 73 66 66, Anthony Michael 68 68 69, Kyle De Beer 71 64 70, Albert Venter 65 68 72

206 - Luke Jerling 72 68 66, Heinrich Bruiners 73 66 67, Christian Kriek 70 69 67, Allen John 70 69 67, Slade Pickering 68 69 69

207 - Rupert Kaminski 76 65 66, Estiaan Conradie 70 70 67, Christiaan Burke 68 71 68, Fredrik From 70 67 70

208 - Jean Hugo 74 66 68, Ryan van der Klis 71 69 68, Jason Roets 73 66 69, Rhys West 70 68 70

209 - Benjamin Van Wyk 75 66 68, Quintin Wilsnach 68 73 68, Alex Haindl 70 70 69, Jake Redman 67 72 70, Pierre Viallaneix 68 70 71

210 - Luke Brown 72 69 69, Warwick Purchase 69 72 69, Peter Karmis 71 69 70, MJ Viljoen 71 69 70, Malcolm Mitchell 69 70 71

211 - Kyle McClatchie 73 68 70, Ethan Smith 71 69 71, Stals Swart 72 68 71, James Mack 71 68 72

212 - Rourke van der Spuy 70 71 71

213 - Wynand Dingle 69 71 73

214 - Trevor Mahoney 69 72 73, Hayden Griffiths 73 66 75

217 - Jordan Duminy 76 65 76