It’s ‘a dream come true’ for SA Open winner
WITH his wife Keri on the bag, England’s Chris Paisley picked up the biggest cheque of his career at Glendower Country Club yesterday when he won the 107th edition of the South African Open.
What was supposed to be Branden Grace’s “big double” after he won the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City last November became the “big disappointment” as the South African failed to build on his excellent 66 in the third round and a birdie-eagle start in his final round. He eventually finished in second place after a final round 68, and three off the pace.
After two holes, where he made a birdie-three and an eagle-three, it looked as if it was going to be Grace’s tournament, but he double bogeyed the par-3 6th and bogeyed the par-4 12th to fall out of contention. Not even a strong finish, which saw him make eagle at the par-5 13th, birdie at the par-5 15th and birdie at the par-4 16th could match Chris’ efforts.
The Englishman didn’t let Grace’s fast start get to him and he produced a stunning, blemish-free round of golf, going round the course in 6-under-par 66, with six birdies and no dropped shots, following in the footsteps of countrymen Graeme Storm (2017) and Andy Sullivan (2015) who also won the SA Open title in recent years. Paisley made just three bogeys all week, to go with a whopping 24 birdies.
“It’s just amazing... I can’t believe it. To play that kind of golf today, next to Branden, on this golf course, it’s amazing,” said Chris after banking a cool R2.3million for his weeks’ work.
“It’s a dream come true to get my first win like this. I’ve had lower rounds (than the 66), but not in that situation. I’ve also fallen away a little at times in the past when in the lead and thought the pressure would tell, but I felt great and in control today.”
Chris added that walking down the 18th hole with Keri alongside him was “incredible”. “I can’t say enough about her. She did so well, it meant so much having her there... and knowing we’d won it,” he said.
Keri, a former grade six maths teacher, took charge of Chris’ bag after regular caddie Sean Russell was given the week off before this week’s Abu Dhabi Championship. “I wasn’t sure whether I was going to play here so I told Sean to go straight to Abu Dhabi and he booked a holiday in the Alps in Germany. I then decided to play here and said not to worry I’d get Keri on the bag. He can’t be too delighted about that now,” Chris said.
The best previous showings on the European Tour by the 31-year-old, who won twice while a student at the University of Tennessee and who turned professional in 2009, came at the BMW International Open (third in 2015), Italian Open (third in 2016) and the Made in Denmark tournament (third last year).
In third place on his own was SA’s JC Ritchie who was in scintillating form over the weekend. He followed up a third round 65 with another 65 yesterday for a total of 16-under-par, for his biggest payday, too. The 23-year-old banked R1.113m for his efforts.