Ryan van Velzen claimed his third Sunshine Tour victory in 10 months when he won the Mediclinic Invitational by four shots in a dominant performance at Maccauvlei Golf Club on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Van Velzen carded a final round of 64 – his second 64 of the weekend – to finish on 25 under par overall, with Neil Schietekat taking second place on 21 under par following a closing 67. LB Boshoff, Jason Roets, Jovan Rebula, Dylan Mostert and Yurav Premlall shared third place on 18 under par.
Van Velzen’s victory comes on the back of a strong summer where he challenged for the DP World Tour co-sanctioned Investec South African Open before finishing second, and also adds to his wins in the Limpopo Championship and the Bain’s Whisky Ubunye Team Championship last year.
But this latest triumph has surprised even him considering the long holiday he took before returning to competition again this week.
“I can’t explain it actually. I took a month off from the game and it just came back to me. I got better without practising,” he said.
Van Velzen was only one shot clear of Schietekat going into the final round and it was still a tight contest between the two over the opening holes despite his eagle on the second. But five birdies, an eagle and only one bogey thereafter saw him pull away from the field.
“I hit the ball so well today and didn’t miss many fairways. Before the final round my caddie and I set a target of 25 under par. That’s what we thought would be the winning total. Then we got to 26 under par and set our sights on 28 under, but then just finished the round off.”
Van Velzen’s win is perfect timing as he now heads into a busy few weeks on the Sunshine Tour featuring tournaments co-sanctioned with the European Challenge Tour and the DP World Tour, and which has given him even bigger goals to aim for.
“I’m trying to win the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy. That’s huge for me. To win that on the Sunshine Tour would be incredible because this tour is just so competitive. That’s my next goal.”
SCORES
263 - Ryan Van Velzen 66 69 64 64
267 - Neil Schietekat 70 64 66 67
270 - LB Boshoff 72 65 70 63, Jason Roets 70 69 68 63, Jovan Rebula 66 69 70 65, Dylan Mostert 71 65 69 65, Yurav Premlall 70 66 66 68
271 - Jbe' Kruger 68 70 66 67
272 - Jacques Blaauw 67 71 69 65, Ruan Conradie 69 68 69 66, Danie Van Niekerk 68 70 67 67, Jean Hugo 67 70 67 68, Oliver Bekker 65 70 66 71
274 - Michael Hollick 72 69 67 66, Peter Karmis 69 67 68 70, Martin Rohwer 68 72 64 70, DK Kim 69 70 65 70, Dylan Naidoo 70 67 66 71