Garth Mulroy fired in back-to-back birdies in the last three holes en route to winning the Vodacom Origins of Golf on a total of 10-under-par 206 at Parys Golf and Country Estate, on Saturday.
"I was few shots back always, two, three, four behind Keith (Horne) all day," he said about capitalising on an opportunity presented by Horne, the overnight leader who was his playing partner, after he made a double-bogey on 13th which narrowed the three-shot gap he had opened.
"He (Horne) got an unlucky break on one of the holes on back nine. He made a double and that opened the door a little bit, but the other guys on eighth to ninth made a few shots ahead of me too. So, I knew I needed a good and strong finish. I said to my caddie, that we need to make some now and I would putt the next two holes. I left it to the last three. I was just fortunate enough to be one ahead," he said.
The winner of the 2008 Vodacom Origins of Golf Arabella said it also helped him to keep a close eye on Horne as they navigated the course. "It gets you more focused, when you are in contention and in the end," he said.
"Obviously, playing with Keith who was leading. I always got an eye on him. I am generally a scoreboard watcher to see if someone keeps me interested and to see when you are not in contention or where you are. Yeah, it was nice. I think it came back quickly after I haven't been around for a while. As soon as I got excited, I got a few results."
He fired in rounds of 67, 69 and 70 to claim the title.
The four-time Sunshine Tour winner is now looking forward to playing at his home province, KwaZulu-Natal, next week at the Sun Sibaya Challenge.
"I am playing and it is always nice to play at home. I played Selborne which is pretty close to home too, few weeks ago. I played well there. I got some momentum and I played well here. Hopefully, I will take that to next week and then up to Europe for Q-school," he said.
Mulroy also thanked Vodacom for the series events.
"Thanks to Vodacom. They put up a lot of money for the guys on the Sunshine Tour. It is always nice to come and play at their events. You see a lot of the same faces. There is also get a bit of friendship going there too. Without a big sponsor like that, it would be a tough year for the guys at home."
Qualifying school graduate, Fredrik From of Sweden, shared second spot with Chris Cannon of England on 9-under-par 207. While Horne finished one shot behind them.
Scores:
206 - Garth Mulroy 67 69 70
207 - Fredrik From 68 69 70, Chris Cannon 68 69 70
208 - Keith Horne 67 66 75
210 - Hennie Otto 68 71 71, Luke Jerling 66 72 72, Jaco Prinsloo 72 71 67
211 - Jonathan Agren 66 73 72, Chris Swanepoel 71 68 72
212 - Jaco Van Zyl 68 72 72, Combrinck Smit 72 67 73, Martin Rohwer 68 73 71, Jake Redman 72 67 73, Ockie Strydom 70 68 74, Trevor Fisher Jnr 73 65 74, Bryce Easton 71 72 69
213 - Teaghan Gauche 70 71 72, Yubin Jung 69 70 74, Scott Campbell 73 70 70, Heinrich Bruiners 74 69 70
214 - Steven Lecuyer 74 68 72, Stuart Smith 74 69 71, Michael Hollick 68 70 76
215 - Neil Schietekat 73 68 74, Dawie Van der Walt 73 67 75, Louis Albertse 70 70 75, Madalitso Muthiya 71 70 74, CJ du Plessis 71 68 76, Jean Hugo 71 67 77, Wallie Coetsee 71 72 72
216 - Vaughn Groenewald 70 71 75, Doug McGuigan 67 75 74, Daniel van Tonder 73 70 73, Thriston Lawrence 71 72 73
217 - Ulrich van den Berg 70 71 76, Tyrone Ferreira 74 67 76, Stephen Ferreira 72 70 75
218 - Herman Loubser 71 70 77
219 - JJ Senekal 68 74 77, Luke Joy 69 70 80, Ruan Conradie 70 68 81
225 - Ryan Cairns 70 73 82
Source: Sport24
