Dylan Mostert birdied the last to win the Nelson Mandela Bay Championship by a single stroke at Humewood Golf Club on Sunday, and earn his second Sunshine Tour title and his first on the European Challenge Tour.
Mostert stood over a three-metre birdie putt on the final green that he needed to separate himself from fellow South African Jaco Prinsloo, whose storming 62 had earned him the clubhouse lead on 15 under par.
And Mostert took the words of his sports psychologist to heart as he rolled in the putt for a final round of 67 and victory on 16 under par.
“We spent a lot of time talking before this tournament and the main message was for me to just stay calm. My mental game definitely got me through this week. That’s what won me the golf tournament,” said Mostert after a solid final round performance in gusting conditions.
“I was so relieved when I holed that birdie putt to win. It was a grind the whole week with the wind. The golf course was difficult for me. But once you taste victory like this you just want more of it. To be a two-time winner is a great achievement for me.”
Mostert will now continue his journey on the Challenge Tour as he chases a new goal of gaining a DP World Tour card.
“Winning is hard, and this is such a relief. The standard of golf on the Sunshine Tour and Challenge Tour is so good. All the golfers out here are hungry and want to win and move to the next level in their careers. I’m definitely going to play Challenge Tour events this year. Casey Jarvis and I will tour together, and the main goal is to get that DP World Tour card, so I’ll put my head down and go for that.”
Ireland’s Ruaidhri McGee (64), Italy’s Lorenzo Scalise (68), Frenchman Tom Vaillant (71) and South African JJ Senekal (70) shared third place on 14 under par.
This was the final event of the four-tournament South African Swing between the Sunshine Tour and Challenge Tour, with Southern African golfers making a clean sweep.
Zimbabwean Benjamin Follett-Smith won the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open followed by South Africa’s Oliver Bekker winning the Dimension Data Pro-Am, JJ Senekal winning the SDC Open and now Mostert winning in Gqeberha. – Michael Vlismas
FINAL ROUND SCORES:
272 - Dylan Mostert 68 68 69 67
273 - Jaco Prinsloo 66 70 75 62
274 - Ruaidhri McGee 66 74 70 64, Lorenzo Scalise 66 71 69 68, JJ Senekal 66 67 71 70, Tom Vaillant 66 64 73 71
275 - Jamie Rutherford 68 69 71 67, Clement Berardo 73 66 69 67
276 - Borja Virto 68 70 74 64, Wynand Dingle 69 69 69 69, Jeppe Kristian Andersen 72 68 67 69, Bradley Bawden 70 69 67 70, Brandon Stone 67 70 68 71, Dan Erickson 68 70 67 71, Josh Hilleard 68 71 66 71
277 - David Boote 71 69 70 67, Ashley Chesters 68 70 71 68, OJ Farrell 69 69 70 69, Hennie O'Kennedy 69 70 66 72
278 - Javier Sainz 66 71 76 65, Robin Petersson 71 68 73 66, Michael Stewart 70 70 72 66, Hennie Otto 70 70 70 68, Lyle Rowe 68 71 70 69, Casey Jarvis 66 73 70 69, Ugo Coussaud 65 74 69 70, Henric Sturehed 65 70 72 71
279 - Pieter Moolman 64 72 78 65, Marc Hammer 69 69 74 67, Keagan Thomas 72 67 73 67, Craig Howie 65 71 75 68, Stefan Wears-Taylor 67 73 71 68, Joel Sjoholm 70 69 71 69, Anton Karlsson 67 69 73 70, Ivan Cantero 69 71 69 70, Alex Haindl 70 67 69 73, Jared Harvey 70 68 68 73, James Hart du Preez 66 74 66 73
280 - Benjamin Rusch 66 73 74 67, Fredrik From 69 70 73 68, Ruan Conradie 68 69 74 69, Sam Bairstow 66 71 74 69, Daniel O'Loughlin 68 71 72 69, Christopher Mivis 68 72 69 71, Stuart Manley 70 66 72 72
281 - Rhys Enoch 69 70 74 68, Steven Brown 69 66 74 72, Jean Hugo 67 71 71 72, Trevor Fisher Jnr 66 74 69 72, Doug McGuigan 67 73 68 73
282 - Andrea Pavan 71 67 78 66, Victor Riu 69 70 77 66, Chris Paisley 69 71 74 68, Jbe Kruger 67 71 74 70, Joel Girrbach 69 70 73 70, Jaco Van Zyl 72 68 72 70, Yan Wei Liu 67 72 71 72, Liam Johnston 67 71 71 73, Adam Blomme 63 70 74 75
283 - Manuel Elvira 66 72 77 68, Anthony Michael 65 75 73 70, Ryan Van Velzen 67 70 74 72
284 - Robin Williams 67 70 76 71
285 - Adilson Da Silva 68 71 77 69, Jaco Ahlers 68 69 78 70, Lucas Vacarisas 68 72 75 70, Gary Boyd 70 68 72 75
286 - Alfie Plant 67 71 78 70, Luca Filippi 66 72 75 73
289 - Martin Vorster 69 68 79 73