Jaco Ahlers showed the experience of a mature golfer and the determination that comes from plenty of hard work as he withstood the threat of the on-fire duo of Shaun Norris and Brandon Stone to claim a one-stroke victory in the SunBet Challenge hosted by the Wild Coast Sun on Friday.
The 42-year-old held a four-stroke lead going into the final round, but with the weather having turned favourable after two days of strong wind, Norris and Stone launched a ferocious charge for the top of the leaderboard.
Norris, who has won 13 times around the world, produced a tremendous round after an early bogey on the par-four second hole.
Thereafter the 2021/22 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy winner reeled off three birdies and an eagle on the front nine and collected another six birdies on the back nine.
Norris played the stretch of holes from the seventh to the 12th in six-under-par, and he needed a birdie at the last to shoot 59.
Norris could only make par on the par-four last hole, leaving him with a 60 for 11-under-par overall.
Stone, meanwhile, produced a superb, bogey-free seven-under-par 63 to finish on 12-under for the tournament, just failing to add to his five professional titles.
When Ahlers double-bogeyed the par-four ninth and then dropped another shot on the par-three 13th, he slipped to 11-under, tied with Norris and with Stone charging.
But the now 12-time winner overcame a tough day for him by knuckling down when it really mattered and birdied the par-four 15th and then the par-five 16th, before finishing with two pars.
The moment @JacoAhlers won his 11th Sunshine Tour title. 🏆#SunBetChallengeWildCoast #SunBetChallenge #GreatnessBeginsHere #sunshinetour pic.twitter.com/ef1SDIyjee
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) July 26, 2024
“I made it tough for myself. Conditions were good but it was a fighting day for me, full of poor ball-striking,” Ahlers said after his second professional win at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club.
“But I just had to keep going. I felt it was my tournament the whole day, that kept me going and I didn’t think of losing.
“My experience definitely helped and counted for a lot in the end. It was a bad golfing day, but I always thought the tournament was mine to lose.”
Having seen what Norris had done when he teed off on the 10th, Ahlers then saw Stone’s score on the 15th.
He responded with a drive that left him with an ideal number to hit a sand-wedge at the flag, hit it close and then holed the putt.
On 16 he hit an even better tee-shot, describing it as the most crucial shot of his round, leaving him with an easy iron into the green and a birdie.
While Ahlers’ two-putt for par and victory on the 18th may have looked devoid of drama, he said he still felt like he had a mountain to climb on the last hole.
“There’s always drama on 18! But I hit a good shot and then hit a wedge away from the flag, for a reasonable two-putt for par. It may have looked drama-less, but there’s always those thoughts in your head,” Ahlers said.
But the Centurion resident silenced those negative thoughts in impressive fashion, signing for a final-round 69 for 13-under-par.
SCORES:
197 - Jaco Ahlers 64 64 69
198 - Brandon Stone 68 67 63
199 - Shaun Norris 68 71 60
201 - Keegan Mclachlan 66 66 69
202 - Pieter Moolman 67 73 62, Gerhard Pepler 67 66 69
204 - Joe Long 73 66 65, Ricky Hendler 68 71 65, Neil Schietekat 69 68 67, Jacques Blaauw 70 66 68, Stefan Wears-Taylor 70 66 68
205 - Ruan Korb 68 68 69
206 - Robson Chinhoi 69 72 65, Danie Van Niekerk 73 66 67, Tristin Galant 69 70 67, Hennie O'Kennedy 69 70 67, Nikhil Rama 68 70 68, Fredrik From 70 68 68, Jaco Van Zyl 67 71 68
207 - James Mack 74 67 66, Lyle Rowe 69 72 66, Jacques P de Villiers 67 72 68, Rourke van der Spuy 69 70 68, Daniel van Tonder 71 68 68, Jake Redman 68 70 69
208 - Combrinck Smit 71 70 67, Jbe Kruger 69 71 68, Nick Cunningham 73 66 69, Thanda Mavundla 70 69 69, Haydn Porteous 69 68 71, Colin Nel 69 67 72
209 - CJ du Plessis 71 71 67, Ruan de Smidt 70 71 68, Trevor Fisher Jnr 69 71 69, Keenan Davidse 70 69 70, Jason Roets 69 68 72
210 - Jean Hugo 70 70 70, Quintin Wilsnach 71 69 70, Jaco Prinsloo 70 68 72
211 - Lyle Pedro 70 71 70, Andre De Decker 68 73 70
212 - Sentanio Minnie 70 72 70, Callum Mowat 68 74 70, Graham van der Merwe 69 73 70, Luke Brown 70 72 70, Leon Vorster 67 72 73
213 - Franklin Manchest 69 71 73
214 - Yurav Premlall 68 74 72, Martin Rohwer 72 69 73
216 - Herman Loubser 71 71 74
219 - Dylan O'Leary 71 71 77
Missed the cut:
143 - Stals Swart 71 72, Heinrich Bruiners 70 73, DK Kim 68 75, Trevor Mahoney 65 78, Austin Bautista 69 74, Jacob Oakley 73 70, Wynand Dingle 71 72, Michael Hollick 71 72, Kyle McClatchie 73 70, Irvin Mazibuko 71 72
144 - Makhetha Mazibuko 74 70, Brandon Meads 74 70, Dayne Moore 73 71, Matthew Spacey 67 77, Regan Steyn 72 72, Sean Bradley 73 71, Adam Breen 72 72
145 - Hayden Griffiths 74 71, Steven Le Roux 73 72, Conner Mackenzie 76 69, Vaughn van Deventer 73 72, Christiaan Burke 73 72
146 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi 72 74, MJ Viljoen 71 75, Kyle De Beer 72 74, Jonathan Broomhead 72 74, Jean-Paul Strydom 69 77, Luke Jerling 74 72
147 - Dan Erickson 74 73, Christiaan Basson 72 75, Thabiso Ngcobo 73 74, Otto Van Buynder 72 75, Umar Davids 74 73, Pierre Pellegrin 70 77, Toto Thimba Jnr 74 73, Albert Venter 75 72, Gerard du Plooy 71 76
148 - Merrick Bremner 73 75, Ruan Groenewald 71 77, Slenda Sithebe 75 73, Jacquin Hess 74 74, Brandon Pieters 73 75
149 - Jastice Mashego 75 74, Samuel Simpson 77 72, Malcolm Mitchell 72 77, Allister de Kock 72 77, Jordan Duminy 73 76, Kayle Wykes 73 76
150 - Christian Kriek 78 72, Travis Ladner 77 73
151 - Therion Nel 76 75, Terence Boardman 78 73, Gregory Mckay 77 74
152 - Ethan Smith 77 75, Keagan Thomas 76 76, LB Boshoff 77 75
153 - Werner Deyzel 75 78, Brandon Gildenhuys 76 77
154 - Simon du Plooy 81 73, Jared Harvey 82 72
155 - Christopher Long 78 77, Thabang Simon 77 78
156 - Gary Kemp 72 84, Lindani Ndwandwe 76 80
158 - Teboho Sefatsa 80 78
159 - Pride Sembo 77 82
160 - Alex Haindl 83 77
162 - Richard Kruger 85 77