Normally this season when Danie van Tonder has put pressure on the leader in the final round, things have headed south for the frontrunner but on Friday, Luke Jerling held his nerve to claim his maiden Sunshine Tour title as he won the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya at Umhlali Country Club.
Jerling fired a fantastic three-under-par 68 on Friday to finish on 13-under-par, beating Van Tonder, who closed with a 70, by four strokes in the end. But their gripping duel was much more closely fought than the final winning margin suggests, with Van Tonder, who began the day two behind, drawing level on the 13th hole.
“It feels unbelievable to have finally won. There were times when I never thought this day would come and you wonder if you can get over the line,” a delighted Jerling said. “I haven’t been in this position for a while and going toe-to-toe with Danie was something I really enjoyed for the whole day.
“And the contest was a lot closer than four strokes, there were momentum swings all through the day. From the get-go, Danie came out firing, driving through a narrow gap and over the bunkers on the first hole. But I stuck to my game-plan, putted nicely on the tough greens and my iron play was solid. I was not overly aggressive.
“I really enjoyed being in contention with Danie. The other times I’ve been in contention, I didn’t really enjoy the moment, it was more a feeling of not wanting to mess up. So that’s testament to the work I’ve been doing with my coach Neil Cheetham. My swing really held up under the gun today and it felt like my day, momentum just seemed to be on my side,” Jerling said.
It was a tricky day out on the sub-tropical south-east African coast, with a strong wind blowing. That wind helped Jerling on the hole which he believed was the most critical to his triumph – the par-four 14th.
“I made a really good birdie on 12 to go two ahead. But then on 13 the wind took my ball left into the trees. I chipped out sideways and then I thought I hit a good third but the wind didn’t hit it and I was left with a tricky chip. I made bogey and Danie made birdie so that was another two-shot swing.
“But in retrospect it was actually good that Danie teed off first on 14 because he hit a really good shot and I had no choice but to be aggressive. It was playing 259m to the front edge and it was straight downwind. But three-wood was too much and I was worried that two-iron wouldn’t cover the water or the bunkers. In the end I threaded a two-iron between the bunkers, it was probably my shot of the day, leaving me with a 12-foot eagle putt, which I made.”
Jerling was suddenly three shots ahead when Van Tonder, who missed some crucial shortish putts in the final round, bogeyed the par-four 15th. The Royal Johannesburg and Kensington golfer then parred his way in while Van Tonder, still pushing hard, bogeyed the last two holes.
Pieter Moolman, who has done well on this stretch of coastline before, finished third on eight-under-par, five strokes behind Jerling, after a 70 on Friday, while Heinrich Bruiners (69) had to share fourth place on seven-under with amateur Astin Arthur, who completed his outstanding week with a 71.
Scores
200 - Luke Jerling 66 66 68
204 - Daniel van Tonder 67 67 70
205 - Pieter Moolman 69 66 70
206 - Heinrich Bruiners 68 69 69, Astin Arthur 66 69 71
207 - Altin van der Merwe 70 71 66, CJ du Plessis 69 67 71
209 - Combrinck Smit 72 70 67, Jonathan Broomhead 71 71 67, Neil Schietekat 71 68 70, Matthew Spacey 68 70 71, Trevor Fisher Jnr 65 72 72, Keenan Davidse 68 68 73
210 - Jean-Paul Strydom 72 69 69, Jaco Van Zyl 69 71 70, Ruan de Smidt 71 68 71, Malcolm Mitchell 66 72 72
211 - Danie Van Niekerk 69 72 70, Ricky Hendler 68 72 71, Dylan Naidoo 69 69 73
212 - Hennie O'Kennedy 72 72 68, Jack Hawksby 70 71 71, Alex Haindl 65 75 72, Robson Chinhoi 69 70 73
213 - Keagan Thomas 71 72 70, Kyle De Beer 71 70 72, Luke Brown 69 72 72, Hennie Otto 69 70 74, Jacob Oakley 63 75 75
214 - Craig Ross 72 71 71, Ruan Korb 73 70 71, Tyrone Ryan 68 75 71, Herman Loubser 72 71 71, Martin Vorster 73 69 72, Jean Hugo 69 72 73, Keegan Mclachlan 74 67 73, Rourke van der Spuy 68 70 76
215 - Stals Swart 71 73 71, James Pennington 71 73 71, Lyle Rowe 74 68 73
216 - Jacques Blaauw 72 71 73, Werner Deyzel 72 71 73, Pierre Pellegrin 67 76 73, James Mack 71 72 73, Doug McGuigan 73 69 74, Tristin Galant 73 68 75
217 - Nick Cunningham 73 70 74, Colin Nel 72 71 74, Rhys West 71 71 75, Toto Thimba Jnr 71 70 76
219 - Stefan Wears-Taylor 71 69 79
220 - Callum Mowat 70 73 77
221 - Graham van der Merwe 71 73 77
222 - Samuel Simpson 70 74 78
WDN - Martin Rohwer 70 73 WDN
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