South African Amateur Championship, an all Scottish affair – Golf update
The final match of the Sanlam South African Amateur Championship has turned out to be an all-Scottish-affair. The match scheduled on Friday will feature the Scotsman, Paul Shields, who will face countryman, Michael Stewart, here at Vaal de Grace near Johannesburg.
Paul shields dumped Jacques Kruyswijk on Wednesday by a tight 3 & 2, eliminating the only South African left in the championship. Both Kruyswijk and shields were all equal up to the fifth hole, when Kruyswijk managed an eagle over Shields birdy, and both
went ahead fighting for the sixth and seventh hole. The young Scot birdied the eight hole while Kruyswijk’s shot missed the green. Kruyswijk again gave in to the pressure when he hit a bunker at 16 while Shields walked away with the match with a 10 footer
birdy at the 15th.
Shields, lauded the efforts of the young South African, "On paper it might not look like a tough match, but Jacques kept the pressure on all the way. He hit two great shots at the fifth and he forced me to go for a lot of shots. I think the difference was
that I never missed a fairway." Shields said.
Meanwhile the other semi final was no less exciting when Stewart thrashed Findlay on the 19th. Stewart, the defending champion of the tournament, had previously defeated Findlay in last year’s final by 3 & 2, and Findlay was determined to take
revenge. Stewart, at one point, completely lost control when Findlay hit consecutive birdies at the 12th and 13th to go three up. The former champion, however, held back Findlay when he halved the 17th and hammering a 15 feet birdie to
take the 18th. The match was ultimately decided at the 19th hole when Findley missed an eight feet birdie and Stewart went over to claim the match.
"I think that was the kicker," said Stewart. "I missed a couple of short putts and that really got me mad. I knew I had to make birdies to beat Jordan. I knocked in a short one at the 14th to win the hole and holed an eight-footer at the 16th.”
It will be the second consecutive victory for the pair on South African soil as the budding Scotts blaze their way in up the World Amateur Rankings.
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