Simfukwe blames anxiety for 2017 Tour Championship loss
Zambia’s Aaron Simfukwe has blamed his failure to win the 2017 West Africa Golf Tour Championship to anxiety after coming so close to winning the title on the final day in Abuja.
Simfukwe, after leading the tour championship for three days played 4 over par 76 on the final day, succumbed to defending champion Vincent Torgah on the last three holes with a total score of 297.
This was Simfukwe’s second tournament of the West Africa Golf Tour 2017 season.
Speaking after the final, Simfukwe said that Torgah was a better player on the final day.
“Jealous isn’t the word to describe how I feel right now, but I so wished I was in Torgah’s position right now.
“I probably had some feelings of anxiousness going into the final and I guess my nerves got the better part of me.
“It’s tough when you’ve got somebody that’s that good and hot starting the day five shots behind you after 54 holes.
“To recover so late after trailing me for three rounds took a resilience not many golfers possess and I tip my hat off for him. Even though I am sad I didn’t win after coming so close, I guess I have to agree that Torgah deserved it more. It was indeed an incredible comeback by the champion,” he said.
On his part, Torgah said that it was the first time he had won without having his “best stuff” and downplayed any notion that his victory would reverberate around the tour.
Torgah shot an impressive eagle on the last hole as he came from behind to win the 2017 Tour Championship in Abuja.
Torgah, who is the defending champion of the championship, started the final day of the tour championship 5 shots behind 54-hole leader Aaron Simfukwe, but he shot 4 under in the first nine holes and started the back nine holes with a double bogey on hole 10 and a bogey on hole 11.
The total prize money for the championship is 50,000 dollars (about N18 million), in which the winner earned 6,000 dollars and 6,000 points for the order of merit.
The top five players in the Order of Merit points are Torgah, Mapwanya, Cameroon’s Issa Nlareb, Pristhy Nji also from Cameroon and Oparaku from Nigeria.