Luke Mayo became the latest first-time winner on the Betway Big Easy Tour after clinching the ninth event of the season at Ebotse Links on Thursday.
The Mount Edgecombe player carded a final round of one-under 71 to take his tournament total to seven-under, claiming a four-stroke victory in the process.
“The Big Easy is such a good feeder tour to the Sunshine Tour and to win here is huge,” said Mayo after his win.
“I didn’t have the best of starts to the season but in my last four tournaments, I’ve had a second, a fifth and winning today pretty much gets me my card which means a lot to me.”
The moment Luke Mayo claimed his maiden #betwaybigeasytour title🏆#GreatnessBeginsHere pic.twitter.com/lE7NgM948E
— Big Easy Tour (@bigeasytourgolf) January 16, 2025
With this being the second-last regular event before the play offs and the final, Mayo will feel a huge amount of relief, given that on the top 12 players on the Order of Merit here will earn their Sunshine Tour playing privileges for the next season.
“This win takes a lot of pressure off the last two events and I am happy that I was able to get the job done today,” admitted Mayo. “Coming into this event, I knew that in the last two events, money doubles and triples, so you want t get the job done as soon as you can. “
In a round where birdies were hard to come by and the leaderboard as tight as they come, Mayo had one thing in his mind the entire day.
“I just focused on my own game and what I could do,” he said, “I didn’t even look at the leaderboard because I wanted to stay focused. I didn’t even know what everyone else was doing; I just stuck to my game plan throughout the week and I only had three bogeys the whole week.
“I think that was pretty much the key to my good golf this week. I wasn’t even going for birdies out there today. I knew that if I shot around 70 or 71, I was in with a shout and I just stuck to the plan. They goal was not to look at the leaderboard and just keep playing good golf.”
His victory at Ebotse Links takes Mayo to fourth on the Order of Merit with one regular season tournament left ahead before the playoff and the final. The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s feeder circuit which enjoys the support of Ernie Els among other patrons.
SCORES:
209 - Luke Mayo 68 70 71
212 - Louis Liebenberg 67 70 75
213 - Oliver Goldhill 70 75 68, Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa 72 71 70, Dillon Germshuys 70 71 72, Tyrone Ryan 68 71 74
214 - Leon Visser 71 72 71, Ryan van der Klis 73 70 71, Tyron Davidowitz 67 75 72, Xander Basson 66 75 73, Coert Groenewald 70 69 75
215 - Wandre Snyman 66 76 73, Michael Kok 73 68 74
216 - Jastice Mashego 71 73 72, Ulrich van den Berg 74 69 73, Jordan Burnand 72 67 77
217 - Warwick Purchase 73 70 74, Harry Konig 69 78 70
218 - Philip Geerts 69 76 73, Jaden Deltel 68 77 73, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 72 74 72, Keagan Crosbie 75 73 70
220 - Slade Pickering 67 74 79, Francois Van der Walt 69 78 73, Daniel Cronje 72 67 81
221 - Jacquin Hess 73 75 73
222 - Paul Boshoff 73 72 77, Tristan Leonard 71 76 75, Thanda Mavundla 72 76 74
223 - Francois van Staden 71 75 77
224 - Jason Froneman 74 73 77, Keanu Pestana 77 71 76, Jordan Wessels 75 73 76
225 - Nicholaus Frade 73 74 78
Missed the cut
149 - Jonathan Waschefort 76 73, Reece Mc Kain 75 74, Kian Coetzer 78 71, Luke Trocado 72 77
150 - Charl Barnard 70 80, Joe Knox 74 76, Mark Maart 73 77, Jonathan Williams 72 78, Ryan Tipping 77 73, Miles Gray 72 78, Eric Wowor 76 74, Tiger Adams 77 73
151 - Erhard Lambrechts 75 76, Shaunak Rama 77 74, Jabulane Mabilane 73 78, Tumelo Molloyi 81 70, Thomas Spreadborough 81 70, Richard Joubert 75 76, Dehan Joubert 74 77, Drikus Joubert 72 79
152 - Khanya Mkhize 75 77, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 80 72
153 - Keelan Africa 76 77, Nyasha Muyambo 75 78
154 - Mandla Dlamini Jnr 78 76, Eben Spangenberg 73 81
155 - Richard Kruger 77 78, Matthew Rushton 78 77
156 - Shaydon Johnson 76 80, Kael Strydom 78 78, Sabelo Xolani Majola 76 80, Johan Theron 74 82
157 - Jarryd Govender 77 80, Shalan Govender 74 83, Jules Helary 79 78
158 - Boeta Nasie 78 80, Ricco Motsa 78 80
159 - Brandon-Jude Rennie 77 82
163 - Khaya Jika 82 81
164 - Steven Le Roux 85 79
165 - Letsoso Letsai 81 84
170 - Llewellyn Leibrandt 89 81
WDN - Siyanda Mwandla 80 WDN WDN, Allister de Kock RTD RTD, Adriel Poonan DSQ DSQ, Thabang Simon 76 DSQ DSQ, Lwazi Gqira 80 DSQ DSQ, Slenda Sithebe DSQ DSQ, Lindani Ndwandwe DSQ DSQ