Ritchie makes it win No 8

IT was a tale of two birdies for JC Ritchie yesterday as he birdied the 18th hole twice at Royal Cape Golf Cub to win the Cape Town Open on the first play-off hole to win his eighth Sunshine Tour title.

It was also his first Challenge Tour title in the event co-sanctioned by the European Tour’s second tier, as he defeated the man who led throughout, Jacques Blaauw, with a superb birdie on the 18th in the play-off, after he made a clutch birdie in regulation play in the final hole to get himself into the play-off.

“After the first nine in my first round, it’s almost difficult to believe I’ve won,” said Ritchie.

He made three bogeys in his first four holes, and turned in twoover-par.

“I told Jaco (Prinsloo) to push me and push me as hard as he could, just to give me some momentum.” His good friend Prinsloo has won twice on the Sunshine Tour already this season.

And while there were bogeys in each of his following three holes, he made six birdies up to the 16th in the final round without dropping a shot and getting into a share of the lead with Blaauw and Sweden’s Mikael Lindberg.

But a bogey from a poor tee shot on the 17th seemed to set him back, and, with Luke Jerling in the clubhouse on 13-under, it seemed a share of second might be his lot. But a perfect tee shot and equally good approach and nerveless birdie putt on 18 saw him transfer the pressure onto Blaauw as Lindberg was unable to birdie the last after he too bogeyed 17.

Aas much as Ritchie’s win was a tale of two birdies, Blaauw’s runner-up spot was a tale of two missed birdie putts. In regulation and in the play-off, his putts were similar in distance, direction, and outcome. On both occasions, he pushed 15-footers just right to prevent him from winning a sixth Sunshine Tour title and first since September 2016.