Overnight leader MJ Viljoen went out in three-under 33 but would follow that with an even better four-under-par 32 coming in, to cruise to a six-stroke victory in the Mopani Zambia Open at Nkana Golf Club on Sunday.
Viljoen’s brilliant final-round 65 lifted him to 16-under-par for the R2.5 million event, well clear of local favourite Dayne Moore, who shot 70 on Sunday to finish on 10-under-par.
The Serengeti Estates golfer has not won since September 2022 and his emotional triumph on Sunday follows a tough time in which he finished 64th in last season’s Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy, the first time he had finished outside the top-30 since 2018/19.
“I needed this win big time and I am very proud of myself for pulling it through. I’ve worked hard for the last few months and it feels really good to get this result. I lost a lot of playing rights last season, so it’s really good to be back in the winner’s circle,” Viljoen said.
The 29-year-old had started the final round with a one-stroke lead over Jacques P. de Villiers and Moore, with the next closest contenders being five strokes back in Heinrich Bruiners, Fredrik From and Kyle Barker.
But neither De Villiers nor Moore were able to keep up with Viljoen as he birdied the fourth, sixth and seventh holes. Viljoen’s only bogey on Sunday came on the par-four 10th hole, cutting his lead to two strokes, but he rebounded superbly with three successive birdies. The coup de grace was an eagle on the 527m par-five 17th.
Having secured an albatross on the fourth on the first day, he birdied the 484m par-five in the last two rounds, and he said his shots on that hole will be one of his favourite memories when he thinks back on his third Sunshine Tour title.
“My shots on four, I almost had a hole-in-one today on the seventh, and the eagle on 17 nearly went in for another albatross, those will be my favourite memories. And also the fans. I played with Dayne Moore on Saturday and so many youngsters were following us around, there was just noise all the time and it was awesome,” Viljoen said.
Zambia’s Moore birdied the first hole to draw level with Viljoen on nine-under, but was four behind by the turn, having dropped a shot on the par-four eighth. A birdie on the 10th saw a two-shot swing and he matched Viljoen with birdies on the 11th and 12th holes, but bogeys on 13 and 16 were his undoing.
Despite an eagle on the par-five 12th, De Villiers battled to build momentum as he mixed two bogeys and a double on the last with three birdies, posting a 71 that left him in third place on nine-under-par.
South Africans Daniel van Tonder (-6) and Barker (-5) rounded out the top five.
FINAL ROUND SCORES:
272 - MJ Viljoen 66 70 71 65
278 - Dayne Moore 70 64 74 70
279 - Jacques P de Villiers 70 70 68 71
282 - Daniel van Tonder 72 70 72 68
283 - Kyle Barker 70 68 74 71
284 - Fredrik From 70 70 72 72
285 - Luke Brown 75 70 71 69, Stuart Krog 72 74 69 70, Lyle Rowe 69 72 73 71
286 - Pierre Pellegrin 75 71 68 72, Heinrich Bruiners 69 75 68 74
288 - Brandon Gildenhuys 73 73 73 69, Keegan Mclachlan 74 73 72 69
289 - James Mack 72 75 73 69, Kyle De Beer 74 71 72 72, Neil Schietekat 74 74 69 72, Brandon Pieters 70 72 73 74
290 - Jason Roets 68 76 77 69, CJ du Plessis 72 71 71 76
291 - Rhys West 73 75 71 72, Toto Thimba Jnr 71 77 71 72, Visitor Mapwanya 70 73 72 76
292 - Danie Van Niekerk 75 75 73 69, Jean Hugo 75 74 73 70, Jake Redman 76 74 71 71, Therion Nel 73 72 75 72, Werner Deyzel 71 74 75 72, Hennie O'Kennedy 73 73 72 74
293 - Stephen Ferreira 78 72 73 70, Bwembwa Chanda 76 72 74 71, Graham van der Merwe 72 71 74 76, Conner Mackenzie 75 72 69 77, Drikus Joubert 75 73 68 77
294 - Sydney Joseph Wemba 74 76 74 70, Njoroge Kibugu 70 77 75 72
295 - Jake Roos 76 75 74 70, Madalitso Muthiya 69 74 77 75, Jack Hawksby 73 73 71 78
296 - Otto Van Buynder 70 74 80 72
297 - Samuel Simpson 74 73 78 72, Francois van Staden 71 76 77 73, Johan Theron 76 75 73 73, Rourke van der Spuy 77 72 74 74
298 - Robson Chinhoi 73 72 79 74, Haydn Porteous 74 73 77 74, Stals Swart 78 71 73 76
299 - Hayden Griffiths 70 79 76 74, Nick Cunningham 74 73 76 76, Gary Kemp 75 73 75 76, DK Kim 75 76 72 76
300 - Ruan Groenewald 75 76 76 73
301 - Promise Sombreiro 78 72 74 77
302 - Kyle McClatchie 73 76 76 77, Travis Ladner 74 76 74 78, Gilbert Chalwe 76 74 73 79
303 - Adrian Andrade 76 75 75 77
304 - Nji Pristhly 72 79 75 78
305 - Ricky Hendler 72 75 77 81, Keagan Thomas 68 80 73 84
308 - Gabriel Chibale 73 76 83 76
310 - Henry Mwanza 73 78 78 81
311 - Tristin Galant 74 77 76 84, Kelly Tembo 78 71 76 86
314 - Basil Wright Jr 72 76 82 84