Khathu’s Lyle Pedro became the third member of the Papwa Sewgolum Class to win a professional title this year following his playoff win over Daniel Cronje in the first Betway Big Easy Blue Label Invitational at Ruimsig Country Club on Wednesday.
Dylan Naidoo paved the way with an historical victory in the Investec South African Open Championship at Durban Country Club in March. Then, it was Slender Sithebe, who won the Vusi Ngubeni Tournament at Soweto Country Club just last month. And now, Pedro has added his name to this list.
Co-hosted with the Blue Label Bushveld Tour, the Betway Big Easy Blue Label Invitational that was played at Ruimsig was the first of five events to be co-hosted by the two Tours.
At seven-under par after 36 holes, Pedro brought a one-stroke lead into the final round and didn’t waste too much time before getting down to business. He was five shots clear after 15 holes while Cronje was also making strides of his own. Pedro’s four birdies in the final round were accompanied by two dropped shots, which saw the Sishen Golf Club member finish his round two-under and nine-under for the week in what looked like a clear in in regulation.
But Cronje had other ideas. Thanks to a superb run of five birdies back-to-back on the homeward stretch, Cronje finished tied with Pedro at nine-under and thereby necessitating a sudden-death playoff to determine the winner.
A trip back up the par-five 18th hole saw Cronje push his driver to the rough on right side of the adjacent 13th fairway, making his second shot difficult. All the while, Pedro had found the fairway on 18 but his second shot right of the green, demanding a spectacular up-and-down for birdie. He missed that and made par, but with Cronje destined to make a bogey there, the tie was decided and Pedro was the victor.
“After Dylan won the SA Open, it just proved to us all that players of colour can win on any Tour,” said Pedro after his win. “I’m just very happy that I am among the winners.”
Pedro noted that despite his composed posture all round long on Wednesday, he almost lost it when after dropping a shot on 16 and 17.
“It was definitely tough out there,” he said. “Especially on hole 17 when I saw that Daniel was eight-under. But I knew I had to keep calm and just try to a birdie but unfortunately, I missed the putt there and I missed the birdie-putt on the last. But, I’m very happy for the victory.”
Pedro, a South African Golf Development Board graduate, is in his third season as a professional and while he hadn’t won on Tour before, he had had some opportunities to challenge but was never successful. He was not going to be denied this time.
The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s feeder circuit and enjoys the support of the legendary Ernie Els among other patrons.
Scores:
207 - Lyle Pedro 69 68 70 WN
207 - Daniel Cronje 70 70 67 KO
210 - Austin Cherichella 71 72 67, Brandon Pieters 71 71 68, Harry Konig 68 70 72
212 - Jacques Van der Merwe 72 69 71
213 - Haydn Porteous 70 73 70, Johan Theron 73 68 72, Therion Nel 74 67 72
214 - Joe Sullivan 75 70 69, Nicko Venter 70 75 69, Ruben Van Der Berg 74 69 71
215 - Jaden Deltel 73 70 72, Michael Kok 72 70 73, Travis Ladner 72 70 73
216 - Bradley De Beer 74 71 71, Jason Froneman 74 70 72, Khanya Mkhize 71 72 73
217 - Adam Breen 74 70 73, Gary Kemp 71 71 75, Jan-hendrik Nieuwoudt 70 71 76, Kyle Kistensamy 74 66 77
218 - Louis Liebenberg 72 70 76
219 - Sean Howell 69 76 74, Darren Neyt 71 74 74, Kael Strydom 75 69 75
220 - Shaydon Johnson 72 71 77, Oliver Goldhill 73 70 77
221 - Regan Steyn 72 72 77
222 - Jungwi Lee 73 71 78
223 - David Waschefort 75 70 78, Tiago Jorge Swart 72 72 79
224 - Matthew Bennett 68 75 81
226 - Nicholas Lavarone 71 73 82
Missed the cut:-
146 - Christiaan Pretorius 74 72, Leon van der Walt 74 72, Liam Ross 67 79, Travis Procter 75 71, Tristan Leonard 69 77, Ryan Tipping 70 76, Matthew Rushton 71 75, Andrew Williamson 76 70, LB Boshoff 69 77
147 - Pedro Cristovam 72 75, Joshua Koekemoer 70 77, Brandon Gildenhuys 75 72, Johnathan Ackerman 74 73, David Amm 71 76, Matt Millar 77 70, Reece Mc Kain 74 73, Nick Beart 72 75
148 - Gareth Willing 74 74, Neil Bothma 74 74
149 - Lwazi Gqira 75 74, Leon Visser 71 78, Siebert Wiid 75 74
150 - Warrick Moonieyan 76 74, Jabulane Mabilane 73 77, Tiger Adams 74 76, Eben Spangenberg 75 75, Wandre Snyman 77 73, Haydn Driver 77 73, Drikus Joubert 72 78
151 - Carl Mwale 74 77, Jonathan Waschefort 75 76, Alphius Kelapile 78 73
152 - Shaheed Patel 77 75, Carter Rowe 80 72
153 - Vaughn van Deventer 78 75, Dillon Germshuys 73 80, John-George Pringle 73 80, John Bele 77 76
154 - Basil Wright Jr 73 81, Steven Le Roux 73 81, Thapelo Maichotlo 77 77, Evance Vukeya 73 81, Wade Jacobs 74 80
155 - Dean Ralphs 81 74, Lance Ellerbeck 78 77, Richard Kruger 80 75
156 - Tawriq Abrahams 78 78, Irvin Mosate wa Mazibuko 81 75, Thabang Simon 76 80, Jeré Brits 78 78, Christopher Houdalakis 77 79
157 - Khaya Jika 77 80, Matt Saulez 77 80, Raymond Sudding 77 80, Jarryd Elliott 84 73, Philip Geerts 81 76, Johnty Darvall 77 80
158 - Henre Proctor 80 78, Sipho Bujela 77 81
161 - Bernard Jansen van Vuuren 77 84, Brandon-Jude Rennie 83 78
162 - Gevone Skopelitis 81 81, Hayden Garcia 85 77
163 - Josh Hirsch 77 86, Lihan Ludick 82 81
WDN - Keagan Crosbie WDN, Jarryd Govender WDN, Teboho Sefatsa WDN, Ricco Motsa 78 RTD, Matthew Dennis RTD, Shaunak Rama RTD, Kian Coetzer RTD, Mohammed Saloojee 85 DSQ