Oliver Bekker produced a magnificent final-round 67 to surge through the field and win the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open by two strokes at Durban Country Club on Sunday.
In a tournament shortened to 54 holes because of the weather, Bekker used all of his experience to close with a round of seven birdies and two bogeys for a winning total of 16 under par.
His nearest challenger was Sweden’s Christofer Blomstrand who finished second on 14 under par with a final round of 71.
It was a remarkable performance from Bekker, who recently moved to Australia as part of a plan to start slowing down his career. But the problem is, he cannot stop winning. This victory comes four months after he won on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
“It’s a little bit surreal. Since we moved to Australia I’ve been moving more furniture than playing golf. I missed the cut last week so came into this event with not too many expectations, and sometimes that’s when you play your best golf,” said Bekker.
This is Bekker’s second victory on the HotelPlanner Tour amidst what is a rich vein of form for him.
“I’ve been working with somebody in Stellenbosch. It’s just small things, and not to fight what I want to do naturally. It’s paying dividends. I’ve been playing well lately without changing too much. I’ve got a wealth of experience behind me now, which also helps.”
It was a thrilling final round as a few players made a run at the lead, including Spain’s Pablo Ereno who was right in contention before an eight on the par-four 17th hole.
“I started slowly, but then started hitting a few quality shots. I thought if I could get to 17 under I’d have shot. As I walked off the 12th green I saw that somebody was on 16 under, so the guys were going low early. I managed to make a few good putts. When I got to 18 I thought I needed to make birdie just to have a chance. I did that, and then I saw the scoreboard and 13 under was in second place. That’s when I knew I might have done it.”
It was an emotional victory as well, with Bekker’s wife staying up in Australia to watch him win and who he spoke to first on the phone. And with Bekker recently having lost a very close friend.
“It was nice to speak to my wife. And I lost a very close friend recently. It makes you realise just how short life is, and that moments like this are special.”
SCORES
200 – Oliver Bekker 65 68 67
202 – Christofer Blomstrand 70 61 71
203 – John Gough 71 69 63
203 – Julian Perico 65 71 67, Pedro Figueiredo 65 71 67, Calum Fyfe 70 65 68, Luke Brown 65 69 69, Pablo Ereno 62 71 70
204 – Hennie Otto 70 69 65
204 – Lars van Meijel 72 67 65, David Horsey 69 70 65, Wouter De Vries 68 70 66, Alex Goff 70 67 67, Louis Albertse 68 66 70, Santiago Tarrio 67 64 73
205 – Martin Vorster 68 69 68
205 – Lorenzo Scalise 65 72 68, Keenan Davidse 70 63 72, Alfie Plant 67 65 73
206 – Matthew Southgate 70 71 65
206 – Pieter Moolman 66 70 70
207 – Brandon Stone 70 70 67
207 – Lyle Rowe 71 69 67, Kieron van Wyk 63 74 70, Jean Hugo 67 67 73
208 – Stuart Krog 67 72 69
208 – Nikhil Rama 65 74 69, Will Enefer 69 67 72
209 – Benjamin Hebert 69 72 68
209 – Jannik de Bruyn 70 71 68, Philipp Katich 71 69 69, Jamie Rutherford 72 68 69, Tom Lewis 71 68 70, Julien Brun 68 70 71, James Mack 67 70 72, Malcolm Mitchell 67 68 74
210 – Collin Adams 70 71 69
210 – Victor Pastor 67 74 69, Robson Chinhoi 70 71 69, Jacques Blaauw 67 73 70, Luke Jerling 72 67 71, James Meyer De Beco 71 67 72
211 – Joel Moscatel 69 72 70
211 – Matthias Schwab 70 71 70, Matthis Besard 70 71 70, Callum Farr 72 69 70, Kyle Barker 68 72 71, Dylan Mostert 68 72 71
212 – Deon Germishuys 71 70 71
212 – Trevor Fisher Jnr 71 70 71, Ruan Korb 70 70 72, Jaco Ahlers 72 68 72, Liam Nolan 72 67 73
213 – Gary Hurley 70 71 72
213 – Jacques P de Villiers 73 67 73, Austin Bautista 64 72 77
214 – Sebastian Friedrichsen 72 69 73
214 – Rhys West 69 71 74, Tobias Eden 69 71 74, Albert Boneta 68 69 77, Wilco Nienaber 67 68 79
215 – Baard Skogen 70 71 74
216 – Robin Petersson 69 71 76
216 – Rhys Enoch 67 67 82
217 – Thanda Mavundla 70 69 78
218 – Sam Locke 68 72 78
218 – Nick Bachem 70 69 79
219 – Luis Carrera 68 71 80
– Sunshine Tour
Article Link: Bekker shows his class to win in Durban