In the end, the much-anticipated chase for a record didn’t materialise, but a one-under-par 71 was all JC Ritchie needed to ease to a six-stroke victory in the Jonsson Workwear Open co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the Challenge Tour.
He finished at 26-under-par for the week at Durban Country Club, four off the personal goal he set himself, which would have eclipsed the Sunshine Tour record of 29-under-par set by Mark McNulty in Swaziland in 1987. His total, however, was more than enough to hold off the charge from Belgium’s Christopher Mivis, who finished bogey-bogey to Ritchie’s birdie-birdie on 17 and 18. Mivis carded a six-under 66 to be 20-under-par for the week.
“On the 15th hole, I saw that Christopher Mivis had moved to within two, so I knew I had to knuckle down and hit a couple of good shots coming down the stretch,” said Ritchie. “I definitely prefer the little two-footers for the win like I had on 18 to the 10-metre one I had to win last week, but I’m glad I got it done.
“I would have loved to have got to 30-under-par for the week. That was sort of a little goal for me. But the course showed me its teeth today after being so generous the last two days, so I’m glad it managed to reward me with two more birdies at the end.”
After being bogey-free for the first 54 holes of the tournament, as well as for the first four of the final round, Ritchie battled to come to grips with the only real defence the course has, the wind. And after putting himself in a perfect position off the tee, he uncharacteristically went way left of the green with his approach, and was unable to get up and down for par after getting relief from a cart path.
“The shot at five might have been a little bit of nerves, but I think it was just inexperience on the course,” he said. “I played for more wind than there was, and I hit the wrong club. That’s what you get!”
With Mivis on the charge, the 10-stroke margin Ritchie started the day with looked as if it might become vulnerable. A hole ahead of the group Ritchie was in, Mivis went birdie-eagle-birdie on 14, 15 and 16, and it was suddenly game on.
For Ritchie, however, it was not entirely unexpected. “If you’d told me my lead would have been down to two by the time I got to 16, I would probably have believed you,” he said. “I was quite nervous starting off the day and there was a lot to think about. I’d never played the course with this wind, so there was learning all day long for me. I was trying to figure out a way, trying to get comfortable, and I never really seemed to settle in. Luckily, towards the end, I managed to give myself two nice chances.”
After he made his second bogey, this time on the 13th, he seemed to have learned what to do in the conditions, and he was able to stretch out for the win.
Behind him, Iceland’s Haraldur Magnus also carded a final round of 66 to take third at 19-under-par, while Keenan Dabvidse’s superb seven-under 65 saw him finish in a share of fourth on 16-under. Also on 16-under were Ritchie’s good friend Jaco Prinsloo, who carded a closing 66, and England’s Ross McGowan, who seemed to scarcely credit that he’d shot 16-under after his Sunday 68, and was 10 shots off the pace.
Ritchie is now just one more Challenge Tour win this season off getting fast-tracked straight onto the DP World Tour. He has the chance next week, if he can ride this wave of astonishing form into next week’s Mangaung Open in Bloemfontein.
“These co-sanctioned events are life-changing for our entire tour,” said Ritchie as he contemplated that possibility. “Previously, it’s been a big struggle trying to get onto bigger tours, so for us to have this opportunity to even take a small step in the right direction is life-changing.”
