Overview:
The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s feeder circuit and enjoys the support of the legendary Ernie Els, among other patrons.
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 – characterized 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. 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.
Daniel Cronje, professional Golfer
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 steppingstone. 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.
Daniel Cronje, professional golfer
Meanwhile, Uganda’s Ronald Rugumayo registered an outstanding 70, 73 and 71 to finish 14th, among the 32 players who made the cut.
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
Additional report by Matthews Mfubu; Junior Social Media Coordinator