Veteran Madalitso Muthiya of Zambia went bogey-free on Thursday in the Bushveld Tour’s one-day tournament at Dainfern Golf and Residential Estate to take the victory there by one shot.
His five birdies saw him home ahead of last week’s winner on the Bushveld Tour, Hayden Griffiths, who was in a share of second with Clinton Grobler.
“It’s good to get the job done,” said Muthiya. “My game’s been good for a number of weeks now, and it’s just been a matter of turning that into good scores. So, having missed out on playing on the Sunshine Tour in the Dimension Data Pro-Am, it was good to have a place to play, and even better to get a win.”
He made two birdies on his opening nine – on the second and the ninth – and then he picked up a third shot on the 10th after the turn. He stayed at three-under all the way until he closed it out with a flourish, with birdies on 17 and 18. Both Grobler and Griffiths made birdies on 18, but their rounds were just not as consistent as Muthiyha’s.
“It was my kind of day, really,” said Muthiya. “I hit the fairways, I hit the greens and the putter started feeling quite good. My short game has been coming on nicely lately, so it’s been frustrating to not be able to make it into the Cape Town Open or the Dimension Data. I missed out by just a couple of shots in both cases.”
Behind Muthiya and the runners-up, Ryan Dreyer and Samba Niang of Senegal shared fourth on three-under, with three players on two-under and a further three on one-under.
For Muthiya, it’s frustrating that there is likely to be a break in the action on the Sunshine Tour now. “I’d like to make use of my form,” he said. “I’ll try to get some action on the Challenge Tour, and, if not, perhaps try and Monday qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour in the United States.”
