Austria’s Max Steinlechner claimed his maiden Sunshine Tour title with a one-shot victory in the Mediclinic Invitational at the Heron Banks Golf and River Resort on Sunday.
Maximilian Steinlechner wins the Mediclinic Invitational 🏆#MediclinicInvitational #GreatnessBeginsHere #SunshineTour pic.twitter.com/7iUTx0J0rF
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) January 19, 2025
In a thrilling final-round duel with South Africa’s Daniel van Tonder, Steinlechner left it to the final hole to make the birdie he needed to win on 24 under par with a closing 66.
“I’m very grateful for getting an invite this week from the Sunshine Tour. This is my first professional win and I want to thank my sponsors and all the people involved,” he said.
The Austrian and Van Tonder were tied for the lead on 23 under par playing the par-four 18th before Steinlecher made the birdie that secured him the title.
Maximilian Steinlechner wins the Mediclinic Invitational 🏆#MediclinicInvitational #GreatnessBeginsHere #SunshineTour pic.twitter.com/8e3EBhK2bp
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) January 19, 2025
Van Tonder parred the hole for a 66 of his own to finish second on 23 under par.
Jonathan Broomhead and Jacques Blaauw shared third on 19 under par, while Yurav Premlall’s share of fifth place earned him his second top 10 in his last four Sunshine Tour events.
Steinlechner started the final round one shot ahead of Van Tonder and the two of them went head-to-head as they both opened with birdies and kept the pressure on each other.
When Steinlechner made bogey on the par-four 16th it enabled Van Tonder to draw level with him, before the Austrian sealed the win on the final hole.
This marks Steinlechner’s first major professional title after leaving the North Carolina State University in 2023 as Austria’s top-ranked amateur and joining the paid ranks.
A word from our champion Maximilian Steinlechner. 🗣️ 🤳 #MediclinicInvitational #GreatnessBeginsHere #SunshineTour pic.twitter.com/bB0WXatshI
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) January 19, 2025
It’s also given him the perfect preparation for the upcoming HotelPlanner Tour (formerly European Challenge Tour) co-sanctioned tournaments on the Sunshine Tour, beginning with this week’s SDC Open at Zebula Country Club.
While denied a victory, Van Tonder’s performance keeps him on track for his stated goal of catching Shaun Norris at the top of the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy and reclaiming the No 1 spot he’s held for a large part of this season.
Van Tonder is currently second on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy.
SCORES
260 - Maximilian Steinlechner 64 65 65 66
261 - Daniel van Tonder 67 63 65 66
265 - Jonathan Broomhead 63 69 66 67, Jacques Blaauw 66 67 64 68
267 - Yurav Premlall 69 69 65 64, JC Ritchie 67 67 66 67
268 - Wynand Dingle 66 66 72 64
269 - Luke Brown 69 66 68 66, Nikhil Rama 71 68 63 67, Fredrik From 66 67 67 69
270 - Justin Walters 68 69 68 65, Benjamin Van Wyk 71 63 69 67, Samuel Simpson 72 66 64 68
271 - Keenan Davidse 72 65 70 64, Martin Rohwer 69 66 69 67, Stals Swart 71 65 68 67, Heinrich Bruiners 67 69 67 68, Altin van der Merwe 69 64 68 70
272 - Keith Horne 67 73 70 62, Rupert Kaminski 68 67 71 66, Quintin Wilsnach 68 68 69 67, Jean Hugo 66 67 68 71
273 - Lyle Rowe 70 70 66 67, Graham van der Merwe 69 68 68 68, James Mack 68 66 70 69, Callum Mowat 67 68 66 72
274 - Joe Long 67 71 69 67, Jaco Van Zyl 66 67 72 69
275 - MJ Viljoen 69 66 73 67, Ethan Smith 70 69 69 67, Colin Nel 71 69 68 67, JJ Senekal 68 70 69 68, CJ du Plessis 69 67 70 69, Tyran Snyders 67 69 69 70, Keagan Thomas 69 67 68 71, Gerhard Pepler 69 68 67 71, Jbe Kruger 68 71 65 71, Stefan Wears-Taylor 66 70 66 73
276 - Otto Van Buynder 71 69 70 66, Jovan Rebula 66 70 73 67, Brandon Pieters 68 69 71 68, Louis Albertse 70 70 68 68, Martin Vorster 70 70 68 68
277 - Stuart Krog 72 68 69 68, Ruan de Smidt 67 70 71 69, Werner Deyzel 70 65 64 78
278 - Ruan Groenewald 70 68 70 70, Kyle McClatchie 67 73 67 71
279 - Herman Loubser 71 68 74 66, Regan Steyn 67 70 74 68, Simon du Plooy 65 73 73 68, Promise Sombreiro 68 71 72 68
280 - Karabo Mokoena 71 67 74 68, Rourke van der Spuy 67 73 71 69, Craig Ross 70 68 71 71, Dian Kruger 69 66 67 78
281 - Pieter Moolman 70 67 69 75
282 - Malcolm Mitchell 69 71 70 72
284 - Andrew Williamson 70 70 77 67, Dayne Moore 67 70 69 78
285 - Leon Vorster 70 70 73 72, Kyle Barker 67 71 73 74, Robson Chinhoi 73 67 69 76
286 - Jack Hawksby 68 71 76 71, Adam Breen 67 73 74 72, Rhys West 70 68 73 75
288 - Eugene Du Plessis 73 67 74 74
291 - Lyle Pedro 69 71 77 74
Missed the cut:
141 - Franklin Manchest 69 72, Gregory Mckay 71 70, Matthew Spacey 70 71, Travis Ladner 74 67, Therion Nel 71 70, Christopher Long 68 73, Ruan Conradie 75 66, Christiaan Burke 71 70, Jake Redman 68 73
142 - Makhetha Mazibuko 71 71, Christian Kriek 70 72, Keegan Mclachlan 70 72, Alex Haindl 71 71, Keelan van Wyk 73 69, Vaughn van Deventer 70 72, Sentanio Minnie 74 68, Jason Roets 77 65, Jordan Duminy 72 70
143 - Hayden Griffiths 72 71, Thabiso Ngcobo 75 68, Jacob Oakley 72 71, Nick Cunningham 67 76, Trevor Fisher Jnr 71 72, Tristin Galant 69 74, Jaco Prinsloo 71 72, Kayle Wykes 74 69, Brandon Meads 74 69
144 - Cornel Muller 71 73, Ross Mcgowan 72 72, Jacques P de Villiers 76 68, Danie Van Niekerk 72 72, Haydn Porteous 72 72, Umar Davids 73 71, Gerard du Plooy 71 73, Toto Thimba Jnr 72 72, Pierre Pellegrin 70 74, Conner Mackenzie 77 67, Kyle De Beer 71 73
145 - Christo Roos 72 73, Sean Cronje 74 71, Brandon Gildenhuys 71 74, Merrick Bremner 75 70, James Pennington 75 70
146 - David Amm 74 72, Neil Schietekat 72 74, Ricky Hendler 72 74, Estiaan Conradie 79 67
147 - Dylan O'Leary 75 72, LB Boshoff 77 70, Pride Sembo 73 74, James Kamte 75 72, Gary Kemp 73 74, Bradford Vaughan 78 69
148 - Andre De Decker 71 77
149 - Ruan Korb 72 77, Fabrizio De Abreu 76 73
152 - Albert Venter 76 76
154 - Irvin Mazibuko 72 82