Keith Horne held onto an overnight lead to win the Sunshine Tour Telkom PGA at the Woodmead course at Country Club Johannesburg with a final round 69.
Horne began the day on 16 under and with his three under fourth round finished on a total of 269, three ahead of Jaco Ahlers, Darren Fichardt and Alex Haindl in second place.
It was Horne’s fifth victory on tour, and his first since 2010 for the Eye of Africa professional. With the win, he picked up a winners cheque of R554 750.
Throughout his career, Horne has been a measure of consistency, never finishing worse than 22nd on the Sunshine tour money list in 16 years since he turned pro.
Playing the last hole, his three shot lead for most of the back nine was cut to two. He laid up on the par five to around 100 metres.
Horne took his time with his third, walking off the entire distance of the shot to the green indicating some nerves. His approach, however, showed little sign of pressure as sent his wedge to six feet to effectively seal the win. He walked up to putt for the birdie, and proceeded to make it for a resounding three shot triumph.
Earlier, Horne was faultless on the front nine, picking up birdies on the first, third and sixth holes to get to 19 under.
Haindl hot on his heels
At the same time playing partner Haindl was keeping the pressure on Horne, with an eagle on the par five sixth to pull within one of the lead.
The slender lead changed to a three shot cushion on the 9th when Haindl double bogied.
The 40-year-old Horne played steady golf on the back nine, churning out the pars while the challengers were unable to get close.
Horne demonstrated finesse around the greens as his short game kept his score together.
Among the challengers, Fichardt was also paired in the final three ball, but while the Sunshine tour veteran reeled off four birdies in his round, they were offset by three bogeys.
Horne displayed a bit of temper on the 16th when he missed a short putt for birdie. He made a baseball swing after the ball had narrowly missed the cup on the right, but then cooled down to make the short return for par.
Still with a three shot advantage playing his second shot to the par four 17th, Horne found the Greenside bunker. He was unable to get the ball up and down and walked to the 18th tee with a two shot lead. — Sapa