Kyle McClatchie claimed his maiden Bushveld Golf Tour victory on Friday after he carded a round-two 66 at Waterkloof Golf Club to back up his opening 61 for a tournament total of 17-under-par 127 and a two-shot win over Ryan Van Velzen.
McClatchie had a fast start to this two-day event as his opening round of 11-under 61 catapulted him to the top of the leaderboard and three shots clear of the field. On day two, the 25-year old knew he had to be firing on all cylinders as Van Velzen – now joined by Ricky Hendler in the chase for the top spot – kept piling the pressure.
“I’m happy to finally get it done,” said McClatchie of his first win on the home of the one-day event. “It was nice out there and I was playing well again today. Things got a little tight and the end with Ryan coming in hot but I’m really happy to get it done.”
McClatchie made three birdies in the first four holes to ease off any trace of nerves that might have crept in ahead of the final round. A par-save on the fifth hole was followed by two birdies one after the other, on six and seven before an unwanted bogey halted his progress on the ninth.
He followed that up with two pars as he tried to keep the big numbers off the card, and then birdies on 12 and 14 made their way onto his card but he gave a shot away on the next hole, the 15th. He steadied himself nicely from that and made back-to-back pars before closing off with a birdie that sealed a round of 66.
“The objective this week was to continue playing well and preparing myself well for the Sunshine Tour season,” McClatchie pointed out, “The goal for these events is to find consistency and just keep playing well. I did that this week.
“Ryan played well too and it got a little nerve-wracking at the end there but I am glad I managed to get the win. It was nice to feel the nerves again; to get those feelings and be able to deal with them and come out on top. These events help us with that; staying in the zone and competing when the going gets tough. So, I am very happy with the way I played this week.”
Van Velzen also signed for a 66 but his tournament total of 15-under 129 was not enough to beat McClatchie to the title and he will settle for the second spot this week.
Ricky Hendler finished third after his round-two 67 took his tournament total to 11-under while Reinhardt Blaauw takes up the fourth spot on a total of 10-under-par 134.
