Tyrone Ryan made a sensational return to the winner’s circle when he claimed a come-from-behind victory in the Betway Big Easy Tour #3 event held at The Wanderers Golf Club on Thursday.
The one-time winner on the Sunshine Tour carded a final-round one-under 70 to get to nine-under on Thursday, a shot clear of the resurgent Brandon Pieters, claiming a long-awaited win in the process.
His 2017 Sun Boardwalk Challenge victory had become a stuff of memory and having challenged for wins in many Betway Big Easy Tour events in recent times but to fall short at each turn, this win was particularly sweet to Ryan.
“This win means a lot,” he said. “I’ve been playing good golf. My golf’s been solid, I just not been able to put three rounds together or four rounds in the bigger events. To get the first two rounds under my belt this week was nice, because then, you’re not chasing the whole time.
“So, I knew that today I just had to play solidly; the course was set up tough, the wind was gusting, so I knew I had to keep it solid and luckily, I got the birdie on the last.”
Tyrone Ryan wins it here @Wanderers_Golf
— Big Easy Tour (@bigeasytourgolf) June 12, 2025
Congratulations, Tyrone!#betwaybigeasytour#greatnessbeginshere pic.twitter.com/omBgNYq1YW
Tied at eight-under with England’s Joe Sullivan and Pieters – who was already in the clubhouse – coming up the 18th tee box, Ryan knew that a birdie or better on the last would give him an outright win to avoid the stress of a sudden-death.
Sullivan couldn’t birdie 18, and Ryan, having placed his approach shot to about eight or 10 feet of the flag, calmly rolled in his birdie-putt to snap a winless run that spans more than half a decade.
“Auto-pilot,” said. “That’s the word. I just thought that I needed to stay calm. I think I learnt a lot in the last few years about just how it’s so nice to be out on the golf course than anywhere else. Even if you have bad days, you have to enjoy it and when really good days come, like this one, you just have to keep going.
“It was nice. The last few months, the golf’s been good, so, just enjoy it. Have fun out there. Three rounds under-par; I had a good second round, I was in contention and then to close it off.
"It gives you that little bit of belief that you can cross the line and you can put three or four good rounds together in a tournament when you need to. That’s been the biggest thing for me; knowing that I can put together those rounds and be in contention.”
Ryan will go into next week’s event at Benoni Country Club with renewed confidence as he seeks to re-establish himself as one of the elite performers on this Sunshine Tour feeder circuit.
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
133 - Franklin Manchest 70 63
134 - Tyrone Ryan 68 66
135 - James Pennington 68 67, Oliver Goldhill 67 68
136 - Joe Sullivan 69 67
137 - Jacquin Hess 65 72, Jordan Duminy 68 69, Austin Bautista 69 68, Ulrich van den Berg 69 68, Joe Knox 68 69, Peter Karmis 69 68
138 - Travis Procter 73 65, Brandon Pieters 71 67, Karabo Mokoena 70 68
139 - Adam Breen 71 68, LB Boshoff 68 71, Harry Konig 69 70
140 - Daniel Cronje 73 67, Heinrich Bruiners 73 67, Joshua Koekemoer 71 69, Shaheed Patel 70 70, Keagan Crosbie 71 69, Matthew Rushton 72 68
141 - Toto Thimba Jnr 73 68, Sentanio Minnie 69 72, Leon Visser 73 68, Jason Froneman 73 68, Ryan Tipping 73 68, Jaden Deltel 74 67
142 - Liam Ross 72 70, Kian Coetzer 72 70, Christopher Long 72 70, Vaughn van Deventer 73 69, Mandla Dlamini Jnr 71 71, Kayle Wykes 74 68, Reece Mc Kain 72 70, Brandon Gildenhuys 71 71, Lwazi Gqira 75 67
Missed the cut:
143 - Richard Joubert 71 72, Johan Theron 72 71, Eric Wowor 70 73, Slade Pickering 73 70, Andre De Decker 72 71
144 - Ryan Fricker 73 71, Keelan van Wyk 74 70, Haydn Porteous 72 72
145 - Shaunak Rama 74 71, Matt Millar 76 69, Jastice Mashego 76 69, Khanya Mkhize 76 69, Hayden Garcia 75 70, Trevor Mahoney 74 71
146 - Jacques Van der Merwe 75 71, Travis Ladner 72 74, Johnathan Ackerman 72 74
147 - Gary Kemp 76 71, Therion Nel 74 73, Siyanda Mwandla 75 72, Keanu Pestana 76 71, Dillon Germshuys 73 74, Thomas Spreadborough 74 73, Ryan van der Klis 77 70, Austin Cherichella 73 74
148 - Keelan Africa 75 73, Louis Liebenberg 76 72, Carl Mwale 77 71, Kyle Kistensamy 75 73, Makhetha Mazibuko 72 76, Tristan Leonard 76 72, David Amm 74 74, Teboho Sefatsa 71 77
149 - Irvin Mosate wa Mazibuko 82 67, Thabiso Ngcobo 76 73, Bradley De Beer 75 74, Richard Kruger 75 74, Steven Le Roux 81 68, Philip Geerts 73 76
150 - Andrew Williamson 77 73, Lyle Pedro 80 70, Matthew Dennis 75 75, Nick Beart 78 72, Slenda Sithebe 75 75, Allister de Kock 79 71
151 - Ace Andile Adam 74 77, Austin Mashego 78 73, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 75 76, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 79 72, Brandon-Jude Rennie 81 70
152 - Drikus Joubert 79 73
153 - Caden Sanders 77 76
154 - Ivan Mare 78 76, Umar Davids 76 78
155 - Jarryd Govender 78 77, Tawriq Abrahams 79 76
156 - Kael Strydom 82 74
161 - Wade Jacobs 83 78, Wandre Snyman 85 76
WDN - Jabulane Mabilane 81 WDN, John Bele 84 WDN, Nkosikhona Dilla 82 WDN, Tiger Adams 72 WDN