Dawie Van Der Walt takes home the Tshwane Open title
Dawie Van Der Walt fired a five-under par 67, in the final round of the Tshwane Open, to ruin Darren Fichardt’s dream of recording his second European Tour victory of the season, on Sunday, March 3, 2013.
The tournament was being staged at the Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate, featuring some of the best European Tour players from different parts of the world.
The South African started his final round campaign while sharing the top spot with his compatriots, Fichardt and Charl Coetzee, with a 16-under par three-round score.
Fichardt and Coetzee marked great starts to their final rounds, as Fichardt birdied three of the first five holes and Coetzee managed to drain birdie putts on the second and the third hole.
However, both of them failed to maintain consistency, as Fichardt parred each of the next 13 holes, while Coetzee conceded three bogeys against a lone birdie over the next 15 holes that he played.
Van Der Walt, in the meantime, held his nerves and added four birdies and one eagle to his scorecard, while conceding just one bogey.
He parred each of the first three holes that he played, prior to recording an amazing eagle putt on the fourth hole. He then added another two shots to his scorecard on the sixth and the seventh hole, to reach the turn in four-under.
The back nine of the course witnessed him draining birdie putts on the 12th and the 15th hole, while conceding just one bogey.
At the end of the day, he found himself settled at the top of the leaderboard alone, while his Fichardt finishing second with two strokes deficit.
“You can only imagine what it’s like to win such a big one,” said Van Der Walt. “I’m just really happy that I played well and won, because you can play well and not win. You start doubting yourself and at 30 years old you start to wonder if you’re good enough
and this shows me that I am. I would have liked to win before 30, but I’ll definitely take this”.
“I don’t know what I’ll do yet. The purses are a lot bigger in The European Tour, so I’ll have to rethink some things. You can make your own schedule, which is important,” he added.
Tags: