Dylan Naidoo took his maiden Sunshine Tour title on Friday as he closed with a four-under-par 67 to win the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya at Umhlali Country Club by two shots.
He held off the challenges from Jaco Prinsloo, Luke Brown, Ian Snyman and amateur Jonathan Broomhead, even though he stumbled down the back nine on his way in. He made three bogeys as he headed for home, including one on the 18th. But, with an eagle and five birdies, he had done enough to pull off a win which has looked likely for quite some time.
He had to come from behind, starting the final round four groups behind the leading pairing, but birdies on three and four got the chase underway. And he kept it tidy all the way to the turn. Immediately after that, he made his eagle on the 10th. He got his drive out there – 326 metres – and hit the green in two on the 489-metre par-five. He made the putt to get to four-under for his round.
He dropped a shot immediately after that when he missed the green on the par-three 11th, and he was unable to get up and down for par there. His closing five holes showcased exactly what worked for him, and exactly what didn’t in that stretch: He made three birdies by hitting the fairways, hitting the greens in regulation and taking just a single putt to get in the hole. He made bogeys on 15 and 18 when he missed the fairway and the green in regulation on 15 and the green on the par-three 18th, and had two putts in both instances when he finally got on to the greens.
After two top-10 finishes this season, and two others in his young career so far, he added this victory to the one he had on the Big Easy Tour in 2016.
It’s a confidence booster for a player many have expected to win, not only with the big summer events of the Sunshine Tour looming, but his journey to the DP World Tour’s Qualifying School Second Stage events which take place in Spain from November 3-6.
