Although he carded a three-over-par 73 in the final round on Wednesday, Warwick Purchase had done enough to win the Bushveld Tour’s Blue Label Invitational #6 at Killarney Country Club.
Purchase started with a magnificent eight-under-par 62 in the first round, which put him into a five-stroke lead over Joe Knox, his nearest competitor. With that kind of cushion, his second round of one-under-par 69 took him to nine-under and he was still five clear. Slade Pickering and amateur Tristan Leonard shared second after 36 holes on four-under. Knox had a level-par 70 and was in fourth after the second round.
Purchase got things going well in the final round, going through the turn in one-under 34 after a birdie on the second hole. It was on the back nine that he looked vulnerable, with bogeys on the 11th, 14th, 15th and 17th. But his five-stroke lead at the start of the round meant that hose didn’t eat far enough into his lead for him to be overtaken.
Pickering had a closing level-par 70 to take second place, and Leonard was third after his closing two-over-par 72 left him two shots behind Pickering.
Purchase’s performance took him to third on the Bushveld Tour Order of Merit, which is led by Jaden Deltel.
