Rupert Kaminski stayed calm and centred through a gruelling and testing final day of the SA PGA Championship at the St Francis Links on Saturday, holding off Matthew Spacey, who stayed in contact with him the whole day, to claim victory by one shot and make his first Sunshine Tour title a big one.
With extreme winds expected on Sunday, Saturday was a race against time to get the tournament finished with both the third and fourth rounds being played, with three-balls going off at the same time in shotgun starts.
Kaminski and Spacey both fired terrific six-under-par 66s in the third round in the morning to close to within one stroke of leader Peter Karmis (71) on nine-under-par.
In the afternoon, it became a two-horse race as Kaminski, who teed off on the first hole, and Spacey, who set off on the 18th, separated themselves from the field. Karmis could only manage a 77 in the final round, finishing on four-under and in a tie for third with Ryan van Velzen (72) and Adam Breen (73).
Spacey had a troubled start with two bogeys in his first four holes, while Kaminski played sublime golf on the front nine, with three birdies in the first six holes.
Spacey fought back though with birdies on the par-four 12thand par-three 14th holes, while Kaminski made a couple of bogeys coming home.
Kaminski parred the last though for a level-par 72, while Spacey fell agonisingly short with bogeys on the par-four 15th and on the par-three 17th, his closing hole.
IN A NEW WORLD
“I’m still extremely overwhelmed and I don’t think it’s ever going to really sink in. I’m blown away with the way I played and it’s such a privilege for me to lift this prestigious trophy,” Kaminski said some time after his triumph.
“Par was definitely a good score today. I thought two-under for the whole day [both rounds] would be good enough, but I was six-under for the third and fourth rounds, which is really tremendous.
“I was just very calm through the day and I had a lot of trust in everything I was doing. I hit the ball well, I putted well and I just had a lot of faith and belief today. I continued to focus on what was in front of me.
“In the last couple of years, I’ve been in position to win a few times, but I let it get the best of me, I let the occasion get to me. But I was impressed by how in control I felt today,” Kaminski said.
Winning the second-oldest tournament in South Africa is special 😍🏆
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) September 23, 2023
👤 Rupert Kaminski#PGAChampsSA | #GreatnessBeginsHere | #SunshineTour pic.twitter.com/fg2HKkoNy3
Like an astronaut being rocketed off to Mars, Kaminski now finds himself in a new world of golf; in celebrated company as the winner of South Africa’s second-oldest professional golf tournament.
He joins the likes of Gary Player, Dale Hayes, John Bland, Tony Johnstone, Ernie Els, David Frost, Mark McNulty and Louis Oosthuizen in putting their names on the impressive trophy.
“It’s incredible, apart from moving into fifth on the Order of Merit, I’m also into all the big events for the rest of the season, the co-sanctioned tournaments at the end of the year.
“Hopefully this will be the start of really big things and it’s a nice step in that direction. And I love coming to the St Francis Links, there’s something about this place, I really enjoy the course and the people,” Kaminski said.
The R2 million event this year celebrated the significant support of the Eastern Cape Tourism and Parks Agency and African Bank.
SCORES
280 - Rupert Kaminski 69 73 66 72
281 - Matthew Spacey 70 72 66 73
284 - Ryan Van Velzen 70 72 70 72, Adam Breen 71 68 72 73, Peter Karmis 69 67 71 77
285 - Jaco Van Zyl 71 70 70 74, Aldrich Potgieter 72 72 67 74
286 - Louis Albertse 73 73 70 70
287 - Luca Filippi 76 70 69 72, Pieter Moolman 75 69 68 75
288 - Jacques Blaauw 74 73 72 69, Trevor Fisher Jnr 71 75 66 76, Jake Redman 69 77 68 74, Jonathan Broomhead 73 73 69 73
289 - Keegan Mclachlan 68 71 73 77, Sean Bradley 75 73 69 72, Pierre Pellegrin 70 75 72 72
290 - Heinrich Bruiners 75 72 67 76, Dan Erickson 74 72 74 70, CJ du Plessis 69 75 71 75, Hunter Epson 73 70 71 76
291 - Combrinck Smit 74 74 70 73, Rhys West 72 76 74 69, Joe Long 73 74 70 74, Wynand Dingle 74 72 70 75, Jared Harvey 73 72 73 73, Robin Williams 68 74 76 73
292 - Doug McGuigan 72 75 66 79, Stefan Wears-Taylor 74 71 74 73
293 - Kyle Barker 76 73 72 72, James Mack 70 77 72 74, Vaughn van Deventer 74 71 72 76, David Wicks 71 73 73 76, Jean Hugo 70 74 68 81
294 - Jordan Duminy 70 79 69 76, Luke Jerling 72 75 69 78, Anthony Michael 76 69 74 75, Stuart Krog 72 73 73 76
295 - Lyle Rowe 73 74 71 77, Nikhil Rama 75 72 74 74, Jake Roos 73 74 71 77, Martin Rohwer 73 73 74 75, Daniel van Tonder 71 74 73 77
296 - Ethan Smith 75 73 72 76
297 - James Hart du Preez 75 73 77 72, Dean O'Riley 75 73 73 76, Robson Chinhoi 72 72 77 76
298 - Toto Thimba Jnr 78 71 74 75, Malcolm Mitchell 72 75 73 78, Madalitso Muthiya 76 70 70 82, Ruan Korb 75 69 78 76
299 - Kyle De Beer 77 72 69 81, Allister de Kock 71 77 71 80
300 - Christiaan Basson 72 77 77 74, Karabo Mokoena 78 71 72 79, Luke Trocado 75 71 76 78, Erhard Lambrechts 73 72 73 82
301 - Jason Roets 75 74 77 75, LB Boshoff 72 77 77 75
302 - Marcel Steyn Scholtz 75 72 77 78
303 - Albert Venter 72 77 71 83, DK Kim 73 74 75 81, Dayne Moore 72 75 71 85, Keagan Thomas 76 70 76 81
305 - Christiaan Burke 74 74 78 79, Merrick Bremner 73 72 77 83
306 - Jack Hawksby 78 70 74 84
307 - Mutahi Kibugu 71 78 77 81
309 - Nyasha Muyambo 72 77 82 78
310 - Callum Mowat 74 75 85 76