Michael Hollick kept the door firmly closed on prolific winner Darren Fichardt on Sunday as he shot an impressive final-round 67 to win the FBC Zim Open by two strokes at Royal Harare Golf Club, claiming his second Sunshine Tour title.
Michael Hollick wins the 2024 FBC Zim Open. 🇿🇼🏆#FBCZimOpen #GreatnessBeginsHere #SunshineTour pic.twitter.com/uy8skxhjOo
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) May 12, 2024
The Mount Edgecombe Country Club golfer and Fichardt, the 48-year-old with 18 Sunshine Tour titles and five on the DP World Tour, engaged in a tense final round, last two-ball duel on Sunday, with Hollick starting the fourth round with a one-stroke lead.
But with Hollick showing incredible composure and control, he never allowed the vastly-experienced Fichardt to get ahead.
Hollick, who turns 37 on Wednesday, had opened up a three-shot lead by the fourth hole, but, unsurprisingly given his pedigree, Fichardt staged a fierce late charge that saw him close the gap to just one stroke on the 16th green.
Fichardt, who birdied the par-five 16th, would have drawn level but for Hollick sinking a clutch 30-foot par-putt.
The Durban resident then birdied the 17th to go two ahead and almost certainly quell Fichardt’s challenge.
“Thanks to Darren for a helluva battle, well-played and we certainly had a good go at each other out there,” Hollick said at the prizegiving.
Prize giving with Michael Hollick 🏆#FBCZimOpen #GreatnessBeginsHere #SunshineTour pic.twitter.com/qvmxuRJh8E
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) May 12, 2024
Fichardt closed with a 68, recovering from a bogey at the par-three second hole with three successive birdies from the fifth to the seventh hole.
He dropped another shot at the par-three 11th, as did Hollick, and they both rebounded with birdies on the par-five 12th.
Fichardt then began to push really hard with birdies on the par-three 15th and on 16, but Hollick held his nerve and repelled his admirable adversary.
Hollick showed his maturity on the front nine as he started patiently with three pars before embarking on his own hat-trick of birdies from the fourth to the sixth hole.
He gained another shot on Fichardt with his birdie on the par-four 10th and, apart from the par-save on 16, he also showed his BMT with a superb approach to four feet to set up his crucial birdie on the penultimate hole.
Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent also shot a 68 on Sunday to climb into third place on the final leaderboard on 14-under-par, six behind Hollick.
His younger brother, Kieran, shot a 71 to finish in a tie for fourth with Sweden’s Fredrik From (67) on 12-under.
A third Zimbabwean finished in the top-10 in Benjamin Follett-Smith (71), who shared sixth place with MJ Viljoen (71) on 11-under-par.
FINAL SCORES
268 - Michael Hollick 66 67 68 67
270 - Darren Fichardt 67 66 69 68
274 - Scott Vincent 67 73 66 68
276 - Fredrik From 71 69 69 67, Kieran Vincent 71 67 67 71
277 - MJ Viljoen 68 72 66 71, Benjamin Follett-Smith 70 71 65 71
278 - Louis Albertse 70 70 70 68, Martin Vorster 70 62 76 70, Rupert Kaminski 72 67 69 70
279 - JC Ritchie 69 69 69 72, Anthony Michael 67 67 71 74
281 - Yurav Premlall 70 74 70 67
282 - Daniel van Tonder 71 72 70 69, Doug McGuigan 68 73 69 72, Gerhard Pepler 71 69 69 73
283 - Brandon Gildenhuys 73 69 71 70, Jaco Van Zyl 70 73 69 71, Hennie O'Kennedy 73 69 69 72, Combrinck Smit 68 70 72 73
284 - Jason Roets 67 76 71 70, Gregory Mckay 75 64 72 73
285 - Danie Van Niekerk 71 73 70 71, Dylan Mostert 71 74 69 71, Jovan Rebula 70 72 71 72, Keagan Thomas 71 73 68 73, Hennie Otto 72 70 69 74, Jaco Ahlers 65 71 73 76
286 - Rhys West 73 70 75 68, Madalitso Muthiya 69 72 74 71, Conner Mackenzie 70 72 73 71, Ian Snyman 74 67 73 72, Robson Chinhoi 72 68 73 73, Keegan Mclachlan 72 72 68 74
287 - Luke Brown 72 72 73 70, Kyle Barker 70 75 72 70, Toto Thimba Jnr 72 70 73 72
288 - Mathew Bramford 71 74 74 69, Ethan Smith 71 70 75 72, Herman Loubser 69 74 73 72, Lyle Rowe 72 71 72 73, Kyle McClatchie 73 71 71 73, Jaco Prinsloo 74 71 69 74
289 - Kyle De Beer 70 72 75 72
290 - Dylan O'Leary 71 72 71 76, Stuart Krog 73 72 69 76, Irvin Mazibuko 71 69 73 77, Nikhil Rama 73 69 70 78
291 - Mohammad Rauf Mandhu 73 69 76 73, Ruan Korb 74 71 71 75, Craig Ross 72 68 72 79
292 - Jacques Blaauw 67 75 76 74, Christiaan Basson 71 73 72 76, Pride Sembo 74 70 71 77
293 - Biggie Chibvuri 71 73 74 75, Nick Cunningham 71 73 72 77
294 - Neil Schietekat 74 70 76 74
295 - Jacques P de Villiers 73 72 79 71, Ricky Hendler 71 74 73 77
297 - Brandon Meads 72 72 77 76, Warwick Purchase 69 74 77 77