Sun City — The last three holes were a little tighter than Martin Rohwer thought they might be on Sunday, but he responded to the pressure magnificently and went on to win the Sunshine Tour’s Vodacom Origins of Golf Final at Gary Player Country Club by two strokes.
Rohwer won his second Sunshine Tour title with a closing round of two-under-par 70, but he had a brief scare when he looked at the leaderboard walking off the 15th green. He saw that Tristen Strydom had moved to 11-under-par with two birdies and an eagle in his final four holes, and he knew that he was vulnerable at just 12-under for the tournament at that stage.
“He kind of took me by surprise,” said Rohwer. “I always kind of thought I had two or three shots, so I was fairly relaxed. Then I saw the scoreboard on the 15th green, and all of a sudden, I knew I had to focus here.
“I managed to hit a six-iron on 16 pretty close and make that birdie, and that gave me a to-shot lead again, which was really good.”
Germany’s Freddy Schott shared third with youngsters Wilco Nienaber and Luca Filippi, who were on eight-under-par, five shots off the lead.
Rohwer started the day inauspiciously when he made bogey on the second. But he rectified that slip-up immediately with a birdie on the third, and then he got it to one-under with another on the sixth. It stayed that way all the way until the 16th.
In truth, there were many putts throughout that nine-hole stretch which slid so very close by. There were equally many par-putts of between three and four feet which unerringly hit the back of the cup.
There was a moment on 17, when his par-putt took a tour of the lip of the hole before it dropped. He smiled ruefully, but it put a spring in his step as he headed for the 18th tee. He took the sensible route down the inviting par-five, steering well clear of any thought of going for the green in two. A two-putt par was his reward, and, at 13-under for the 54 holes, a two-stroke win.
“It’s been a good three days,” said Rohwer. “I haven’t really stepped out of line for three days straight, and it’s felt good. I put some work in over January after the Christmas break. Obviously to come out in the first tournament in this stretch of 13 events and play like this feels great.”
SA Tour Golf
