Darren Fichardt finishes runner-up in Telkom PGA Championship
Darren Fichardt finished tied for the second position along with two other players, at the Telkom PGA Championship, on February 26.
The 36-year-old South African professional played tremendously and secured the runner-up position. He tied with Jaco Ahlers and Alex Haindl by scoring a 16-under par and 272 strokes in total.
Keith Horne is the proud winner of the tournament, staged by the Sunshine Tour at Country Club Johannesburg.
He scored a 19-under 269 and successfully won the title by a one-stroke lead, earning R 554,750.
The three runner-ups displayed an amazing performance and competed well for the leading position. However, Fichardt was the most spectacular in the field when compared with the rest.
Fichardt started the tournament with two consecutive birdies on the first and the second hole.
His game reflected that he was genuinely seeking the title as he played with enthusiasm. Later, he scored six more birdies and was 64 at the end of the round.
Before the event, he was aware of the tough and tricky roughs at Country Club Johannesburg. However, he cleared the bogey-free round on Thursday amazingly and has not experienced the rough sites on the course.
He only missed a fairway in the first round, but delivered an extra effort there and saved a bogey.
Fichardt was very happy to clear a bogey-free round and was only one-stroke behind the leader at the end of the first day.
“I’ve been working really hard. Really, really hard,” Fichardt said. “I’ve been hitting 500 to 600 balls a day, so I’m not surprised. I was going through the motions out there, just picking my targets off the tee and making sure I hit fairways and greens”.
He added, “The course is playing long and longer hitters have an advantage here. But the rough is up and the greens firm, so fairways are always a winner. But most importantly the putter needs to work, and that’s really good right now”.
Later, he continued his brilliant performance in the final three rounds and recorded 22 birdies, 44 pars and only 6 bogeys. The 12-time Sunshine Tour winner earned a whopping R 272,183.
Fichardt's performance has improved now. He is looking forward to further improving his game and is eyeing to secure leading positions in the upcoming tournaments.
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