MJ Viljoen has been through the terrible tantalisation of not winning for five years on the Sunshine Tour but feeling very close to it, so when he finally returned to the winner’s podium at the SunBet Challenge hosted by the Wild Coast Sun on Friday, he was a little lost for words.
Viljoen, who led by one stroke going into the final round at the Wild Coast Country Club, played the steadiest of golf to seal the deal on Friday, shooting a two-under-par 68 to win by three strokes, even with a bogey at the last.
His last victory came at the Sun Fish River Challenge on 6 September, 2017, but he has certainly had some near misses since then, with six top-five finishes, including being runner-up twice. Last week he began working with a new coach in Dougie Wood.
“It’s been a long time and I’ve just been so focused on winning again that I now don’t really know what it means,” Viljoen said after his triumph. “But I’m going to enjoy it and embrace it and take the weekend to think about it.
“I’ve been struggling for a long time, but I kept feeling that I was so close. I made some changes in the last week and they just sparked the feeling on the course that I have been looking for for so long.
“It sounds almost magical and I think it is quite magical. It feels like the start of a new chapter,” Viljoen said.
The 27-year-old had his game-plan in place from the start of the round, wanting to start well and not have to push too hard on a challenging course. Birdies on the second and third holes were like popping to the shops down the road and getting all the groceries you need.
“When I saw what the wind direction was going to be today, I thought two and three would be ideal birdie opportunities. I managed to get those birdies and then I was able to play par golf all day after that.
“It just set me up perfectly for my game-plan. I was never in trouble, I didn’t really hit a bad shot. I kept it simple and kept my targets big.
“Even though it was tough on the back nine, it came easy for me and I was able to par seven of the holes and birdie the par-five 16th. On the 18thI was happy to do nothing fancy, take bogey and get out of there,” Viljoen said.
Portugal’s Stephen Ferreira tried valiantly to grab the win as he fired a 64 that saw him finish tied second on 10-under-par, three behind Viljoen, alongside Pieter Moolman (67).
SCORES:
197 - MJ Viljoen 65 64 68
200 - Stephen Ferreira 68 68 64, Pieter Moolman 65 68 67
201 - Martin Vorster 66 65 70
202 - Christiaan Burke 67 65 70, Madalitso Muthiya 64 68 70
203 - Neil Schietekat 64 72 67, Jordan Duminy 64 69 70, Heinrich Bruiners 65 67 71
204 - Ryan Van Velzen 66 70 68, Jaco Ahlers 66 65 73, Keenan Davidse 64 66 74
205 - Wynand Dingle 67 69 69, Merrick Bremner 68 67 70, Joe Long 67 67 71, Casey Jarvis 66 66 73
206 - Clancy Waugh 71 65 70, Ockie Strydom 68 68 70, Herman Loubser 69 67 70, Kyle Barker 65 70 71, Anthony Michael 68 67 71
207 - Luca Filippi 68 68 71, Michael Kok 66 69 72, Fredrik From 67 67 73, Luke Jerling 66 67 74
208 - Jean-Paul Strydom 69 68 71
209 - Andre De Decker 71 67 71, Franklin Manchest 66 71 72, Adam Breen 69 68 72, Jacques Blaauw 62 72 75, Jaco Van Zyl 65 68 76
210 - Jacquin Hess 67 71 72, Louis Albertse 69 68 73, Malcolm Mitchell 70 67 73, Harry Konig 65 72 73, CJ du Plessis 66 71 73, Stefan Wears-Taylor 69 67 74
211 - Keelan van Wyk 65 73 73, Rourke van der Spuy 69 68 74
213 - Dwayne Basson 68 69 76
217 - Steve Surry 70 65 82
WDN - Sean Bradley 69 69 WDN