Hollick bags second Sunshine Tour title with FBC Zim Open win

Michael Hollick kept the door firmly closed on prolific winner Darren Fichardt on Sunday as he shot an impressive final-round 67 to win the FBC Zim Open by two strokes at Royal Harare Golf Club, claiming his second Sunshine Tour title.

The Mount Edgecombe Country Club golfer and Fichardt, the 48-year-old with 18 Sunshine Tour titles and five on the DP World Tour, engaged in a tense final round, last two-ball duel on Sunday, with Hollick starting the fourth round with a one-stroke lead.

But with Hollick showing incredible composure and control, he never allowed the vastly-experienced Fichardt to get ahead. Hollick, who turns 37 on Wednesday, had opened up a three-shot lead by the fourth hole, but, unsurprisingly given his pedigree, Fichardt staged a fierce late charge that saw him close the gap to just one stroke on the 16th green.

Fichardt, who birdied the par-five 16th, would have drawn level but for Hollick sinking a clutch 30-foot par-putt. The Durban resident then birdied the 17th to go two ahead and almost certainly quell Fichardt’s challenge.

“Thanks to Darren for a helluva battle, well-played and we certainly had a good go at each other out there,” Hollick said at the prizegiving.

Fichardt closed with a 68, recovering from a bogey at the par-three second hole with three successive birdies from the fifth to the seventh hole. He dropped another shot at the par-three 11th, as did Hollick, and they both rebounded with birdies on the par-five 12th. Fichardt then began to push really hard with birdies on the par-three 15th and on 16, but Hollick held his nerve and repelled his admirable adversary.

Hollick showed his maturity on the front nine as he started patiently with three pars before embarking on his own hat-trick of birdies from the fourth to the sixth hole. He gained another shot on Fichardt with his birdie on the par-four 10th and, apart from the par-save on 16, he also showed his BMT with a superb approach to four feet to set up his crucial birdie on the penultimate hole.

Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent also shot a 68 on Sunday to climb into third place on the final leaderboard on 14-under-par, six behind Hollick. His younger brother, Kieran, shot a 71 to finish in a tie for fourth with Sweden’s Fredrik From (67) on 12-under.

A third Zimbabwean finished in the top-10 in Benjamin Follett-Smith (71), who shared sixth place with MJ Viljoen (71) on 11-under-par.

SCORES:
268 – Michael Hollick 66 67 68 67
270 – Darren Fichardt 67 66 69 68
274 – Scott Vincent 67 73 66 68
276 – Fredrik From 71 69 69 67, Kieran Vincent 71 67 67 71
277 – MJ Viljoen 68 72 66 71, Benjamin Follett-Smith 70 71 65 71
278 – Louis Albertse 70 70 70 68, Martin Vorster 70 62 76 70, Rupert Kaminski 72 67 69 70
279 – JC Ritchie 69 69 69 72, Anthony Michael 67 67 71 74
281 – Yurav Premlall 70 74 70 67
282 – Daniel van Tonder 71 72 70 69, Doug McGuigan 68 73 69 72, Gerhard Pepler 71 69 69 73
283 – Brandon Gildenhuys 73 69 71 70, Jaco Van Zyl 70 73 69 71, Hennie O’Kennedy 73 69 69 72, Combrinck Smit 68 70 72 73
284 – Jason Roets 67 76 71 70, Gregory Mckay 75 64 72 73
285 – Danie Van Niekerk 71 73 70 71, Dylan Mostert 71 74 69 71, Jovan Rebula 70 72 71 72, Keagan Thomas 71 73 68 73, Hennie Otto 72 70 69 74, Jaco Ahlers 65 71 73 76
286 – Rhys West 73 70 75 68, Madalitso Muthiya 69 72 74 71, Conner Mackenzie 70 72 73 71, Ian Snyman 74 67 73 72, Robson Chinhoi 72 68 73 73, Keegan Mclachlan 72 72 68 74
287 – Luke Brown 72 72 73 70, Kyle Barker 70 75 72 70, Toto Thimba Jnr 72 70 73 72
288 – Mathew Bramford 71 74 74 69, Ethan Smith 71 70 75 72, Herman Loubser 69 74 73 72, Lyle Rowe 72 71 72 73, Kyle McClatchie 73 71 71 73, Jaco Prinsloo 74 71 69 74
289 – Kyle De Beer 70 72 75 72
290 – Dylan O’Leary 71 72 71 76, Stuart Krog 73 72 69 76, Irvin Mazibuko 71 69 73 77, Nikhil Rama 73 69 70 78
291 – Mohammad Rauf Mandhu 73 69 76 73, Ruan Korb 74 71 71 75, Craig Ross 72 68 72 79
292 – Jacques Blaauw 67 75 76 74, Christiaan Basson 71 73 72 76, Pride Sembo 74 70 71 77
293 – Biggie Chibvuri 71 73 74 75, Nick Cunningham 71 73 72 77
294 – Neil Schietekat 74 70 76 74
295 – Jacques P de Villiers 73 72 79 71, Ricky Hendler 71 74 73 77
297 – Brandon Meads 72 72 77 76, Warwick Purchase 69 74 77 77
Missed the cut:-
146 – Luca Filippi 75 71, Dayne Moore 72 74, Steven Le Roux 74 72, Ronald Rugumayo 75 71, James Mack 69 77, Keegan Shutt 73 73, Ignatius Mketekete 73 73, Promise Sombreiro 72 74
147 – Jake Redman 74 73, Luke Jerling 72 75, Trainos Muradzikwa 77 70, Christian Kriek 78 69, Therion Nel 72 75, Martin Rohwer 75 72, Quintin Wilsnach 70 77
148 – Basil Wright Jr 72 76, Clive Nguru 75 73, Thanda Mavundla 70 78, Jean Hugo 74 74, Wynand Dingle 74 74, Otto Van Buynder 73 75, Trevor Mahoney 71 77, Tristin Galant 77 71, Keelan van Wyk 72 76, Franklin Manchest 74 74, Shaydon Johnson 74 74
149 – Haydn Porteous 78 71, Tatenda Makunde 74 75, Samuel Simpson 71 78
150 – Werner Deyzel 77 73, Vaughn van Deventer 74 76, Ethan Fichardt 78 72, Adam Breen 70 80, Stephen Ferreira 73 77, Slenda Sithebe 74 76, Ruan de Smidt 79 71, Albert Venter 76 74, Brian Gondo 72 78, Jacquin Hess 76 74
151 – Hayden Griffiths 76 75, Pieter Zwart 75 76, Jacob Oakley 73 78, David Amm 77 74, Ulrich van den Berg 74 77, Callum Mowat 77 74, Alex Haindl 71 80, Paul Adam Chidale 76 75
152 – Regan Steyn 77 75, Rourke van der Spuy 75 77, Mutahi Kibugu 76 76, Njoroge Kibugu 71 81, Nyasha Muyambo 73 79, Jared Harvey 77 75, Devon Valentine 80 72, Christopher Long 77 75
153 – Jastice Mashego 75 78, Nevy Milazi 76 77, Jabulane Mabilane 80 73, Simon Murungweni 78 75, Matthew Spacey 76 77, Braydon Amm 78 75, Davison Elijah 75 78
154 – Stals Swart 82 72, Austin Bautista 81 73, Stefan Wears-Taylor 74 80
155 – Travis Ladner 79 76, Christiaan Burke 78 77, Merrick Bremner 75 80
156 – Akil Yousuf 79 77, Anyway Katembenuka 76 80, Shaahid Mahmed 77 79, Tanaka Chatora 78 78, Sean Bradley 81 75
157 – Tongoona Charamba 76 81, Liberty Gumisa 74 83
158 – Tafara Mpofu 77 81, LB Boshoff 79 79, Tonderai Masunga 72 86
160 – William Geach 82 78
164 – Innocent Mukumba 78 86
165 – Kelly Tembo 86 79, Jordan Duminy 82 83
170 – Lloyd Dube 89 81