Zander Lombard’s seven-under-par 65 on Sunday was only enough to take him into a share of second in the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour co-sanctioned Jonsson Workwear Open at The Club at Steyn City.
Not even replacing his two bogeys with theoretical pars on his card would have been enough for him to chase down Germany’s Nick Bachem, who carded a nine-under 63 in the final round to move to 24-under for the tournament. Instead, Bachem took his maiden DP World Tour title by four strokes from Lombard and his fellow-South African, Hennie du Plessis.
Du Plessis didn’t have two bogeys to contend with on his card, but he did have a double-bogey on the 13th which slowed a potential charge for victory from a man who looked calm and likely to challenge throughout the day.
Bachem’s rise has been incredible from only recently playing on the Euro Pro Tour and then European Challenge Tour, to now being crowned a champion on the DP World Tour.
“It feels amazing. I think it’s my 10th start on the DP World Tour. I always believed I could win out here. But to be honest, just playing on the DP World Tour has been overwhelming, and now to win on it as well is amazing. I actually can’t process what’s happened to me over the last few years.”
Bachem overcame a challenging start to his final round when his drive off the first was plugged in a fairway bunker. He managed to make an incredible par from there and went on to play flawless golf.
“I had a bad start with that plugged lie on the first hole and a pitch out. But I changed my mindset during this tournament. I led a tournament in Kenya recently and I tried too hard to win there and it didn’t work out. So this week I just stuck to the plan and stayed calm. My caddie is also very experienced and kept me in the moment most of the time. I just wanted to enjoy today and enjoy having the chance to win a tournament. I played great and am lucky it was my day.”
Behind the top three, Ockie Strydom played himself into a share of fourth with a closing round of four-under-par 68. It was his third top-10 of the DP World Tour season, two of which have been victories, and he continues to ride high in fourth place in the Race to Dubai. He shared fourth with Ewen Ferguson of Scotland.
Jacques Kruyswijk and Hennie O’Kennedy were the other two South Africans to make the top 10, after closing rounds of five-under 67 and four-under 66 respectively took them to 17-under for the week – seven off the pace.
