Weather-forced delays did little to deter Daniel Cronje as he marched to a dominant six-shot victory in the Betway Big Easy Tour Play Off event held at Modderfontein Golf Club.
Wednesday’s second round had to be suspended twice before play was eventually called for the day, no thanks to dangerous weather in the area. At 13-under par and with two holes to play in round two, Cronje was already ahead of the field at this point, and had a healthy three-shot cushion.
When the third round started, immediately after the conclusion of the second on Wednesday morning, Cronje was ready to pick up from where he had left off. A bogey-free final round of six-under-par 66 – characterised by four birdies and an eagle – took Cronje’s total for the week to 20-under par 196 while his closest challenger, Tristan Leonard finished the tournament at 14-under.
"That was a lot of fun,” said an elated Cronje in the aftermath of his victory. “Anytime you take a nice lead into the final round; it’s quite stressful, so it was really nice that I was able to get the job done today.
“I feel like this was some of the best golf I’ve played. You’ve tended to, in the past, make a few mistakes on the golf course. So, I went and cleaned it up this week and I think it showed on my scorecard.”
Cronje’s dominant win at Modderfontein marked his second of the season, having claimed a win at Killarney Country Club earlier in the season.
“I’ve won a few times now in the last couple of months,” reflected Cronje, also referring to victories he claimed on the Blu Label Bushveld Tour. “Winning is never easy but I’ve been putting myself in those positions and today proved that just being there in those positions in the last few months, helped me today and I was able to get it done.”
With his win at Modderfontein, Cronje has now moved to second on the Order of Merit standings, led by England’s Joe Sullivan. Cronje knows this and also knows that that top spot can be his after The Final in March.
“That’s sort of the goal,” he declared when quizzed about his ambition to win the Order of Merit. “Coming into the Play Off was trying to finish as high up as I can, and try to chase him (Sullivan) down. Obviously, this is a big step; a big stepping stone. I know there are some bonus points and there’ll be more points up for grabs at The Final. So, we’ll try to etch more onto that lead out there,”
The Play Off event was the penultimate tournament of the season before the final. Only the top 40 players on the Order of Merit competed at Modderfontein and only the top 30 after that, will be eligible for the final which is scheduled for March.
The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s feeder circuit and enjoys the support of the legendary Ernie Els, among other patrons.
SCORES
196 - Daniel Cronje 63 67 66
202 - Tristan Leonard 69 66 67
206 - Oliver Goldhill 65 71 70
206 - Bradley De Beer 67 67 72
207 - Louis Liebenberg 68 69 70
208 - Andrew Williamson 71 70 67
210 - Jacques Van der Merwe 70 68 72
211 - Joe Knox 71 72 68
211 - Kian Rose 70 68 73
212 - LB Boshoff 72 70 70
212 - Brandon Gildenhuys 70 71 71
213 - Joe Sullivan 66 75 72
213 - Travis Procter 69 76 68
214 - Ronald Rugumayo 70 73 71
214 - Tyrone Ryan 72 74 68
215 - Leon Visser 72 72 71
215 - Philip Geerts 69 75 71, Jake Bolton 73 73 69
216 - Andrew McLardy 74 68 74
216 - Wandre Snyman 69 69 78, Ryan Tipping 69 75 72, Brandon Pieters 75 70 71
217 - Vaughn van Deventer 72 71 74
217 - Sentanio Minnie 72 73 72
218 - Hannes Strooh 75 71 72
219 - Jacquin Hess 71 73 75
219 - Matthew Rushton 72 73 74
220 - Richard Joubert 70 76 74
221 - Therion Nel 74 70 77
222 - Jordan Duminy 69 77 76
224 - Kian Coetzer 70 73 81
MISSED THE CUT:
147 - Ulrich van den Berg 74 73
151 - Andre De Decker 74 77
151 - Austin Cherichella 75 76
153 - Jason Froneman 76 77
154 - Drikus Joubert 73 81
WDN - Lyle Pedro 76 WDN
WDN - Dillon Germshuys 77 WDN, Adam Breen 78 WDN, Matt Millar 78 WDN, Travis Ladner 78 WDN, Jaden Deltel 80 WDN, Reece Mc Kain 82 WDN