Keith Horne’s level-par score in the final round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf at Arabella proved enough to win him his ninth Sunshine Tour title as he finished on a total six-under-par 210 on Saturday.
Horne was a threat from the beginning of the tournament, as he posted consecutive rounds of 69 on Thursday and Friday to take and hold on to the lead. He then started his final round with three pars and bogey on the fourth, before two important birdies made it into his card. The back nine was not too different, because he made bogey on 11, made birdie 14 before dropping another shot on the par-three 17.
‘I’m over the moon,’ Horne said after his win.
‘A win is always great and it’s been a while. I think it’s been a couple of years and I really felt like I deserved to win quite a few times. I really played solid golf the whole week.’
And despite windy and cold conditions at Arabella, Horne always believed he was in with a shot.
‘It was quite hard coming with a big lead down the stretch,’ he noted.
‘And it was difficult trying to play safe and at the same time play positively, but I was playing really well.’
He added that the birdie he made on the eighth hole did a lot to settle him down.
The win is Horne’s third Vodacom title after he won the 1998 Vodacom Series KwaZulu-Natal, Vodacom Origins of Golf St Francis in July of 2014, and the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final at Pezula Championship Course in October of that same year.
‘Vodacom has been with me throughout my whole career, and that’s 22 years,’ he said of the sponsors of the tournaments he’s won so many times.
“The support that they have given local golf is superb. It (Vodacom) is the backbone of our tour.’
The veteran Horne will now look forward to the European Tour’s Made in Denmark event with a degree of confidence after this victory.
Tied for second on three-under-par were Keenan Davidse, Jaco Ahlers and Titch Moore, while Jean Hugo took up fifth position with his two-under-par finish. Sharing sixth were Stefan Engell Andersen, Wynand Dingle and England’s Scott Campbell, while Alex Haindl shared ninth with Jake Roos, Ockie Strydom, Vaughn Groenewald, Daniel van Tonder and Neil Schietekat.
Final leaderboard:
210 – Keith Horne 69 69 72
213 – Keenan Davidse 71 72 70, Jaco Ahlers 73 70 70, Titch Moore 72 69 72
214 – Jean Hugo 73 73 68
216 – Stefan Engell Andersen 76 70 70, Wynand Dingle 69 73 74, Scott Campbell 70 70 76
217 – Alex Haindl 77 71 69, Jake Roos 73 71 73, Ockie Strydom 73 70 74, Vaughn Groenewald 71 72 74, Daniel van Tonder 72 70 75, Neil Schietekat 72 70 75
218 – Andre De Decker 74 72 72, Stephen Ferreira 72 73 73, Peter Karmis 71 73 74, Lyle Rowe 72 70 76, Chris Swanepoel 72 70 76
219 – Jaco Prinsloo 70 77 72, Doug McGuigan 72 73 74, Jacquin Hess 70 72 77
221 – Charl Coetzee 76 71 74, Andre Nel 72 74 75, Jean-Paul Strydom 74 71 76, Chris Cannon 74 71 76, Breyten Meyer 71 72 78
222 – Irvin Mazibuko 74 74 74, Christiaan Basson 74 74 74
223 – Tyrone Ferreira 77 71 75, Allan Versfeld 76 72 75, Altaaf Bux 73 75 75, Makhetha Mazibuko 76 71 76, Steven Ferreira 73 73 77
224 – MJ Viljoen 76 72 76
226 – Michael Palmer 69 78 79, Matthew Spacey 73 74 79
228 – Matthew Carvell 73 75 80
229 – Rourke van der Spuy 76 72 81
230 – Hennie du Plessis 77 70 83
