Jarvis rallies to claim a come-from-behind win at Kyalami

Amateur Casey Jarvis carded a final-round six-under-par 66 on Wednesday to claim a come-from-behind win on 15-under in the Altron Big Easy Tour tournament that was played at Kyalami Country Club this week.

Ranked the sixth-best amateur in South Africa, Jarvis was a shot off the pace coming into the final round and credited some brilliant approach shots for his impressive comeback.

“The strategy was the same as the first two days,” said Jarvis. “I have been hitting the ball well but my approach shots have been really good this week, so I just kept giving myself chances. I was struggling a bit with the putter on the first nine but I just told myself to stay patient and they fell in on the back nine.”

Jarvis made a birdie to get his round going on Wednesday but a bogey followed immediately on the second hole.

He was able to bring it back to one-under with a birdie on the fourth hole which proved to be his last birdie on the front nine to underline the struggle he mentions.

After his birdie on four, Jarvis, who plays out of State Mines Country Club went seven holes without dropping a shot, making pars to keep things steady.

A healthy run of birdies then followed – from the 12th through to the 15th and Jarvis was not done yet.

He made pars on 16 and 17 before closing off with a birdie to seal a round of 66 which earned him a four-stroke victory over Zambia’s Dayne Moore who was leading coming into the final round.

“I didn’t get upset with myself over the bogey I made,” Jarvis added, “it was a short one and I just told myself that I needed to stay patient and then they started falling in. I’ve been hitting it well all week. I was solid tee-to-green and, obviously, a few putts dropped, so I am extremely proud of myself for the effort out there this week.

“I just kept playing the game I was playing the whole week and I didn’t focus on what Dayne (Moore) was doing and it seemed to have worked.”

Jarvis is the second amateur to claim victory on the Altron Big Easy Tour this season after Christiaan Maas won the first event of the season at Blue Valley Golf Estate near Centurion in May.

“This win means a lot to me because I can get a few amateur world ranking points,” Jarvis said.

“I’m just proud of myself. It’s good to win again. A big thanks to GolfRSA for everything they are doing for us; they give us the opportunity and exposure to come out here and play against these professionals – most of them are Sunshine Tour players. It’s really big for us amateurs to compete here because it turns our game up when you compete with the professionals out here.”

Moore fired in back-to-back 67s in the first two rounds but his final round of 71 was not enough to see him all the way and he takes home a runners-up finish this week.

Sentanio Mannie secured his first top-five finish of the season, thanks to his solo third-place finish this week. He shot eight-under 208 this week.

Luan Boshoff and Sunshine Tour player Chris Swanepoel share fourth on seven-under for the tournament.

The Big Easy Tour was founded in 2011 with support from Ernie Els and counts current international star Christiaan Bezuidenhout among its former Order of Merit winners.

FINAL ROUND SCORES

201 - Casey Jarvis 69 66 66

205 - Dayne Moore 67 67 71

208 - Sentanio Minnie 70 68 70

209 - LB Boshoff 70 69 70, Chris Swanepoel 66 71 72

210 - Slade Pickering 68 74 68, Matthew Rushton 74 67 69

211 - Keelan van Wyk 73 68 70, Nicholaus Frade 70 69 72

212 - Vaughn van Deventer 69 75 68, Keegan Mclachlan 70 68 74, Luke Trocado 68 68 76

213 - Carlo Heunis 73 69 71, Matthew Spacey 69 70 74, Heinrich Bruiners 70 69 74

214 - Dwayne Basson 74 70 70, Coert Groenewald 71 67 76, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 69 68 77

215 - Jonathan Waschefort 72 71 72, Keanu Pestana 71 72 72, Reinhardt Blaauw 72 68 75

216 - Allister de Kock 75 69 72, Philip Geerts 70 71 75, Jason Froneman 66 73 77