After two late bogeys on Sunday in the fifth and final round of the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School Final Stage, MJ Viljoen’s chances of winning a card by finishing in the top 35 were diminishing at Lake View Resort and Golf Club in Thailand.
He responded in the best way possible, making an eagle on the par-five 15th, and following it up with a birdie on the 17th to seal the deal. He finished on 10-under for the 90-hole marathon, sharing that score with three other players. He was in 23rd place and had played his way on to the Asian Tour.
Those bogeys came on the 12th and 14th, after he hade made two birdies in the first 11 holes and was cruising along nicely. He wasn’t going to threaten the leaders, and the tournament was eventually won on 22-under by Jack Thompson of Australia. But making the bogeys, and not getting those strokes back, could have seen Viljoen finish on eight-under for the week. Only two of the nine players who were on that total won their cards. So it was a close shave.
Unfortunately for Jaco Prinsloo and Luca Filippi, who made the cut to play the final round, things did not go so well. They both closed with two-over-par 73, and finished on three-under and two-under respectively. In the end, it would have taken a closing round of five or six-under to have done the job for them.
Also missing out was Zimbabwe’s Benjamin Follett-Smith, who closed with a three-over 74 to be two-under after the 90 holes.
