Estate agents will be chasing Andrew McLardy around the fairways and greens after he ran out a three-shot winner of the Tour Championship played at the Leopard Creek golf course.
McLardy not only pocketed the winner’s cheque of R317 000 but also won the right to line up at the NEC Invitational to be played at Akron, Ohio, in August, the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland and a couple of other World Golf Championships events.
With all this guaranteed income, McLardy and his wife Toni will be building a home for themselves at Pecanwood on Hartbeespoort Dam.
The Randpark professional began the final round with a seven shot lead and it became clear after the front nine that the only way his opponents could beat him, was if he was dragged off by the resident leopard.
Unfortunately for them, dining was not foremost in the mind of Louis the Leopard and it was left to another Louis — Louis Oosthuizen — to chase him home. His level-par round of 72 saw McLardy finish on 15-under-par 273 for the tournament, with Oosthuizen, who fired a marvellous six-under 66 on Sunday, ending on 12-under 276.
In third place came Keith Horne, whose 68 on Sunday brought him home on eight-under 280 for the tournament.
”It was the hardest thing in the world to have a seven shot lead,” said McLardy. ”With all that was happening I was obviously a little excited and didn’t sleep that well.
”It was difficult to stand over the ball and believe I could win. The bush is looking at you, the bunkers are looking at you and the water is looking at you.
”The house was a big thing and I didn’t want to blow that. On some of those world events there is no cut and you can earn $25 000 just teeing off on the first hole and then quitting.
”Winning here was the difference between R1-million or nothing.”
McLardy, however, did exactly what he needed to do on Sunday — just stay out of trouble. He hardly set the course alight, but he hardly did anything wrong either. He started well enough with a birdie at the par-five second and then coasted along to complete the front nine in one-under-par 34.
On the 10th though McLardy drove into the bunker, could not get to the green in two and two putted for his first bogey of the day.
Meanwhile Oosthuizen, who began the day nine shots off the leader, quickly began to close the gap. He birdied holes one, two, four and six to turn with a four-under 31. Although he dropped a shot at 10, the 21-year-old from Albertina in the Southern Cape picked up another three shots on 12, 13 and 14 to keep the pressure on McLardy.
While he admitted he was quite aware that Oosthuizen was breathing down his neck, McLardy remained unfazed and just stuck to his gameplan. After four successive pars, he pushed the deficit back to four with a birdie on the par-five 15th.
”After I hit a wonderful five-iron and made par on the 16th and I knew Louis hadn’t birdied 17, I started to feel in control.” By the time he dropped a shot at the 17th, Oosthuizen was already back in clubhouse and the gap was three.
McLardy played a safe final hole, laying up short of the water on the 495m par-five, put his third safely on the green and two putted for his par.
Ashleigh Simon, the 14-year-old girl invited to play here this week, finished 28 over par with a total of 314. ”I enjoyed these four days and I feel I learned a lot to take away with me,” she said. – Sapa