Normally this season when Danie van Tonder has put pressure on the leader in the final round, things have headed south for the frontrunner, but on Friday, Luke Jerling held his nerve to claim his maiden Sunshine Tour title as he won the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya at Umhlali Country Club.
Jerling fired a fantastic three-under-par 68 on Friday to finish on 13-under-par, beating Van Tonder, who closed with a 70, by four strokes in the end. But their gripping duel was much more closely fought than the final winning margin suggests, with Van Tonder, who began the day two behind, drawing level on the 13th hole.
“It feels unbelievable to have finally won. There were times when I never thought this day would come and you wonder if you can get over the line,” a delighted Jerling said. “I haven’t been in this position for a while and going toe-to-toe with Danie was something I really enjoyed for the whole day.
“And the contest was a lot closer than four strokes, there were momentum swings all through the day. From the get-go, Danie came out firing, driving through a narrow gap and over the bunkers on the first hole. But I stuck to my game-plan, putted nicely on the tough greens and my iron play was solid. I was not overly aggressive.
“I really enjoyed being in contention with Danie. The other times I’ve been in contention, I didn’t really enjoy the moment, it was more a feeling of not wanting to mess up. So that’s testament to the work I’ve been doing with my coach Neil Cheetham. My swing really held up under the gun today and it felt like my day, momentum just seemed to be on my side,” Jerling said.
Luke Jerling wins the SunBet Challenge hosted Sun Sibaya. 🏆👏#SunBetChallengeSibaya #SunBetChallenge #GreatnessBeginsHere #SunshineTour pic.twitter.com/axrez50IqM
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) October 4, 2024
It was a tricky day out on the sub-tropical south-east African coast, with a strong wind blowing. That wind helped Jerling on the hole which he believed was the most critical to his triumph – the par-four 14th.
“I made a really good birdie on 12 to go two ahead. But then on 13 the wind took my ball left into the trees. I chipped out sideways and then I thought I hit a good third, but the wind didn’t hit it and I was left with a tricky chip. I made bogey and Danie made birdie so that was another two-shot swing.
“But in retrospect it was actually good that Danie teed off first on 14 because he hit a really good shot and I had no choice but to be aggressive. It was playing 259m to the front edge and it was straight downwind. But three-wood was too much and I was worried that two-iron wouldn’t cover the water or the bunkers. In the end I threaded a two-iron between the bunkers, it was probably my shot of the day, leaving me with a 12-foot eagle putt, which I made.”
Jerling was suddenly three shots ahead when Van Tonder, who missed some crucial shortish putts in the final round, bogeyed the par-four 15th. The Royal Johannesburg and Kensington golfer then parred his way in while Van Tonder, still pushing hard, bogeyed the last two holes.
Pieter Moolman, who has done well on this stretch of coastline before, finished third on eight-under-par, five strokes behind Jerling, after a 70 on Friday, while Heinrich Bruiners (69) had to share fourth place on seven-under with amateur Astin Arthur, who completed his outstanding week with a 71.
SCORES:
200 - Luke Jerling 66 66 68
204 - Daniel van Tonder 67 67 70
205 - Pieter Moolman 69 66 70
206 - Heinrich Bruiners 68 69 69, Astin Arthur 66 69 71
207 - Altin van der Merwe 70 71 66, CJ du Plessis 69 67 71
209 - Combrinck Smit 72 70 67, Jonathan Broomhead 71 71 67, Neil Schietekat 71 68 70, Matthew Spacey 68 70 71, Trevor Fisher Jnr 65 72 72, Keenan Davidse 68 68 73
210 - Jean-Paul Strydom 72 69 69, Jaco Van Zyl 69 71 70, Ruan de Smidt 71 68 71, Malcolm Mitchell 66 72 72
211 - Danie Van Niekerk 69 72 70, Ricky Hendler 68 72 71, Dylan Naidoo 69 69 73
212 - Hennie O'Kennedy 72 72 68, Jack Hawksby 70 71 71, Alex Haindl 65 75 72, Robson Chinhoi 69 70 73
213 - Keagan Thomas 71 72 70, Kyle De Beer 71 70 72, Luke Brown 69 72 72, Hennie Otto 69 70 74, Jacob Oakley 63 75 75
214 - Craig Ross 72 71 71, Ruan Korb 73 70 71, Tyrone Ryan 68 75 71, Herman Loubser 72 71 71, Martin Vorster 73 69 72, Jean Hugo 69 72 73, Keegan Mclachlan 74 67 73, Rourke van der Spuy 68 70 76
215 - Stals Swart 71 73 71, James Pennington 71 73 71, Lyle Rowe 74 68 73
216 - Jacques Blaauw 72 71 73, Werner Deyzel 72 71 73, Pierre Pellegrin 67 76 73, James Mack 71 72 73, Doug McGuigan 73 69 74, Tristin Galant 73 68 75
217 - Nick Cunningham 73 70 74, Colin Nel 72 71 74, Rhys West 71 71 75, Toto Thimba Jnr 71 70 76
219 - Stefan Wears-Taylor 71 69 79
220 - Callum Mowat 70 73 77
221 - Graham van der Merwe 71 73 77
222 - Samuel Simpson 70 74 78
WDN - Martin Rohwer 70 73 WDN
MISSED THE CUT:
145 - Kyle McClatchie 75 70, Adam Breen 73 72, MJ Viljoen 76 69, Jacquin Hess 71 74, Irvin Mazibuko 69 76, Lindani Ndwandwe 72 73, Jastice Mashego 75 70, Shaahid Mahmed 71 74, Gerard du Plooy 73 72, LB Boshoff 75 70, Makhetha Mazibuko 69 76, Michael Hollick 74 71, Albert Venter 75 70, Jared Harvey 72 73
146 - Bwembya Chanda 72 74, Wynand Dingle 76 70, Stephen Ferreira 69 77, Hayden Griffiths 74 72, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 72 74, Sentanio Minnie 74 72, Jake Redman 72 74, Ethan Smith 74 72, Therion Nel 75 71, Trevor Mahoney 76 70
147 - Stuart Krog 77 70, Allister de Kock 72 75, Haydn Porteous 78 69, Franklin Manchest 72 75
148 - Ronald Rugumayo 75 73, Blanche Lamprecht 76 72, Leon Vorster 75 73, Conner Mackenzie 76 72, Brandon Pieters 76 72, Fredrik From 72 76, Lyle Pedro 70 78, Keelan van Wyk 74 74
149 - Promise Sombreiro 76 73, Luke Trocado 78 71, Gerhard Pepler 77 72, Austin Bautista 75 74, Estiaan Conradie 77 72, Kirby Coe-Kirkham 74 75, Christopher Long 75 74, Vaughn van Deventer 76 73, Thanda Mavundla 75 74, Jean-Pierre Van der Watt 73 76, Drikus Joubert 72 77
150 - Sabelo Xolani Majola 71 79, Ruan Conradie 74 76, Quintin Wilsnach 75 75, Gregory Mckay 74 76, Christiaan Burke 76 74, Merrick Bremner 73 77, Mohammad Rauf Mandhu 79 71
151 - Jordan Duminy 77 74, Gary Kemp 75 76, Christian Kriek 73 78
152 - Pride Sembo 77 75, David Amm 73 79, Travis Ladner 75 77, Regan Steyn 77 75
153 - Jason Roets 73 80, Dayne Moore 74 79
154 - Thabang Simon 74 80, Otto Van Buynder 79 75, Ruan Groenewald 82 72, Andrew Williamson 78 76
155 - Nicholas Adams 75 80, Simon du Plooy 80 75
156 - SP Mthethwa 82 74, Sean Bradley 80 76
157 - Umar Davids 81 76, Slenda Sithebe 78 79
158 - Brandon Gildenhuys 77 81, Richard Kruger 81 77
159 - Siyanda Mwandla 78 81, Jabulane Mabilane 79 80
160 - Thabiso Ngcobo 81 79
161 - Steven Le Roux 83 78
164 - Ricco Motsa 86 78
165 - Terence Boardman 84 81
174 - Shaun Coetzee 85 89