He got better in each round, and on Sunday, Pieter Moolman closed with the best round of the day, his six-under-par 66 lifting him to a share of 10th in the Challenge Tour’s Italian Challenge Open at Golf Nazionale in Viterbo, Italy.
Moolman started with a level-par 72, then carded a 69 in the second round, a 68 in the third, and he made six birdies without dropping a shot in the final round to jump 14 places on the leaderboard. In the end, his 13-under-par total for the tournament left him eight strokes behind the winner, Matteo Manassero of Italy, who closed with a five-under 67 to hold off England’s Will Enefer, who charged in vain with his 66 to reach 18-under, three shots shy of the top of the leaderboard. Marc Hammer of Germany was third on 17-under, and Alex Fitzpatrick of England was fourth on 16-under. There were five players on 14-under in a share of fifth.
Moolman shared 10th with Zimbabwe’s Benjamin Follett-Smith, who closed with a one-under 71. One shot behind them were Brandon Stone and Casey Jarvis in a share of 13th on 13-under. Stone had a two-under 70 to close, and Jarvis finished strongly with his five-under 67.
Luke Jerling had a two-under 70 to finish on nine-under in a share of 26th, while Jaco Prinsloo had a level-par 72 to share 59th on one-under for the tournament.
