Martin Rohwer had the good graces to call it “unexpected” and thanked the weather for helping him, but his wonderful victory in the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya at Umhlali Country Club on Friday was down to the fabulous golf he played on the final day.
Starting the last round eight shots off the lead, Rohwer fired a superb six-under-par 65 on Friday, lifting him into a playoff with Christiaan Burke. Rohwer then parred the par-three 18th hole three times, with Burke making bogey on the third attempt, to seal a most unlikely triumph.
“I just made the cut on the number yesterday and I missed the cut last week, so to win is obviously unexpected,” a delighted Rohwer said. “The win never crossed my mind and I was just thinking about getting a low round and moving as high up the leaderboard as possible.”
“But the way the weather changed, Mother Nature did me a favour. We heard that the wind was going to pick up in the afternoon and as soon as I stepped off the 18th, the wind turned south-westerly and started blowing quite hard. So it was a struggle for the later golfers.
“I made a really nice putt for eagle on the par-four 14th and then I chipped in for birdie on the 15th and that really threw me into contention. I then just tried to hold on and post something. I thought I might then potentially have a chance.
“I had not hit a shot for a couple of hours and then I went to the range before the playoff. The 18th is a relatively short [182m] par-three with quite a strong wind coming off the left and I hit seven-iron all three times. I made a good putt for par on the first playoff hole, par again and then two putts for par the third time as Christiaan made bogey,” Rohwer said.
The Kloof Country Club golfer said his putter was his other main benefactor as he claimed his third individual title on the Sunshine Tour.
“The best part of my game was on the greens. I made some really nice putts. I drove the ball pretty well too. It’s been a pretty solid season. I’ve finished third twice, had another top-10, and I’ve only missed two cuts. But I’m stoked to win and hopefully I can take this form into the summer swing and the rest of the year,” Rohwer said.
The 30-year-old had three birdies and a bogey on the front nine, and then dropped another shot on the par-four 12th. But that was followed a tremendous birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie run as Rohwer roared into contention.
With overnight leader Jonathan Broomhead struggling to a five-over-par 76, Burke took control with three consecutive birdies from the ninth hole giving him a two-shot lead over Luke Brown and Luke Jerling.
But Burke then dropped shots on the 14th, 16th and 18th holes to sign for a 72 and give Rohwer a chance.
Brown (67) and Jerling (71) also had late bogeys as they finished in a tie for third on four-under-par, just one stroke behind.
SCORES: (*won in playoff)
208 – *Martin Rohwer 69 74 65, Christiaan Burke 67 69 72
209 – Luke Brown 70 72 67, Luke Jerling 68 70 71
210 – Conner Mackenzie 68 74 68, Martin Vorster 70 71 69, Christiaan Basson 68 73 69
211 – Jacques P de Villiers 69 74 68, Gerhard Pepler 72 70 69, Dylan Naidoo 71 71 69, Kyle De Beer 70 72 69, Dylan Mostert 68 71 72, Jonathan Broomhead 63 72 76
212 – Sentanio Minnie 72 71 69, Rhys Enoch 72 71 69, Lindani Ndwandwe 70 73 69, Jaco Van Zyl 68 73 71, Anthony Michael 71 69 72, Kyle Barker 71 69 72
213 – Ryan Van Velzen 68 75 70, Luca Filippi 73 70 70, Pieter Moolman 71 68 74
214 – Kyle McClatchie 68 74 72, Robin Williams 67 74 73, Jean Hugo 73 67 74, Karabo Mokoena 73 66 75, Keegan Mclachlan 67 72 75, Rhys West 70 69 75, Keenan Davidse 68 69 77
215 – Madalitso Muthiya 71 72 72, Merrick Bremner 73 70 72, Richard Joubert 70 72 73, Blanche Lamprecht 68 73 74, Sean Bradley 70 70 75
216 – Adam Breen 71 70 75, Nicholaus Frade 75 66 75, Keagan Thomas 69 71 76
217 – Sean Cronje 71 72 74, Paul Boshoff 68 74 75, Neil Schietekat 71 71 75, Jack Hawksby 69 72 76, Jason Roets 70 70 77, Nikhil Rama 69 70 78, Danie Van Niekerk 72 67 78, Doug McGuigan 72 66 79
218 – Yurav Premlall 69 73 76, Heinrich Bruiners 72 69 77, Leon Visser 71 68 79
219 – Vaughn van Deventer 70 73 76, Pierre Pellegrin 70 71 78
Missed the cut:-
144 – Willie Olivier 72 72, Ethan Smith 74 70, Haydn Porteous 73 71, Erhard Lambrechts 71 73, Toto Thimba Jnr 71 73, Trevor Fisher Jnr 73 71, Peter Karmis 72 72, Quintin Wilsnach 71 73, Keelan van Wyk 71 73
145 – Thabang Simon 72 73, Jacques Blaauw 74 71, Ruan Conradie 75 70, Joe Long 70 75, Rourke van der Spuy 71 74, Michael Kok 76 69, Travis Ladner 71 74, James Pennington 74 71, Aneurin Gounden 71 74, Robson Chinhoi 69 76, Hennie Otto 72 73, Matthew Spacey 72 73, Mandla Dlamini Jnr 70 75, Callum Mowat 76 69, Emile Steinmann 75 70
146 – Drikus Joubert 70 76, Jared Harvey 74 72, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 75 71, Gregory Mckay 75 71, Colin Nel 75 71, Ruan de Smidt 72 74, Ruan Korb 73 73, MJ Viljoen 74 72, Ricky Hendler 70 76, Adriel Poonan 70 76, Chris Cannon 73 73
147 – Hayden Griffiths 70 77, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 75 72, Combrinck Smit 70 77, Hennie O’Kennedy 74 73, David Wicks 71 76
148 – Alphius Kelapile 76 72, Nyasha Muyambo 72 76, Estiaan Conradie 76 72, Lyle Rowe 76 72, Richie O’Donovan 73 75, Fezekile Kana 76 72, Thanda Mavundla 72 76, Tristin Galant 74 74
149 – Makhetha Mazibuko 75 74, Rupert Kaminski 76 73, Dayne Moore 72 77, Michael Hollick 74 75, Jake Redman 75 74, Franklin Manchest 79 70, Wynand Dingle 74 75, Malcolm Mitchell 80 69, DK Kim 76 73, Ryan Tipping 72 77
150 – Philip Geerts 76 74, Christopher Long 82 68, Wade Jacobs 77 73, SP Mthethwa 73 77
151 – LB Boshoff 78 73, Tyron Davidowitz 75 76
152 – Basil Wright Jr 72 80, Siyanda Mwandla 75 77, James Mack 73 79
155 – Sydney Joseph Wemba 72 83
156 – Gerard du Plooy 77 79, Jastice Mashego 76 80, Gerhard Trytsman 75 81
158 – Shalan Govender 80 78
160 – Allister de Kock 81 79
161 – Ricco Motsa 79 82
DSQ – Jonathan Waschefort 81 DSQ
Photo by Tyrone Winfield/ Sunshine Tour
