Hugo cruises to Vodacom Origins win
Jean Hugo had to ward off complacency in the final nine holes on Saturday of the Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament at Pretoria Country Club as he cruised to a three-stroke victory.
His opening nine all but won him the R540 000 tournament as he made two eagles and two birdies to turn in six-under-par 30.
“It was a battle on the back nine, having such a good cushion,” he admitted, “and I lost my way a bit off the tee to I had to work hard to keep it all together.”
He managed to make some pressure putts to save par after dropping a shot on the 11th, and he made a safe par on the 18th to defeat Adilson Da Silva and George Coetzee by three strokes with his 11-under-par total of 205 for the 54-hole tournament.
But it was a soaring six-iron in to the ninth which set up the second of his eagles that defined his round, as he left himself with a two-footer for the eagle and launched him to a five-stroke cushion as he turned.
But after the turn, that Midas touch began to desert him as he missed fairways three times in succession off the tee.
“I was aware of the fact that as we headed for home that Adilson could easily get to nine-under,” said Hugo, “and George was making a bit of a charge, so I needed to keep it together.
He did just that with a pressure 25-footer for par on the 16th. “I had a bit of a fluffy lie, and I wasn’t sure how it would come out,” he said after he hit his tee shot right of the green.
“I just wanted to get it to 15, 20 feet,” he said, and he managed to get it almost that close despite not having much green to work with, and the green sloping away from him.
He sank the putt to save par and keep any possible challenge at bay.
Coetzee had a horror start on his home course as he made four bogeys in his opening seven holes.
But he pulled a shot back with a birdie on nine, and then three more birdies on his way home lifted him back into second with Da Silva.
Da Silva, who won the previous tournament on the Sunshine Tour a fortnight ago, battled throughout the week with a painful wrist, but still managed to string together a final-round 68.
In a share of fourth place, a further two strokes back, were rookie Allan Versfeld and qualifier PG van Zyl.
Hugo savoured the win, which was a repeat of his victory in the corresponding opening event in last year’s Vodacom Origins of Golf series at Gardener Ross.
“It’s my fifth win in this series,” he noted, “and it’s never that easy with the level of play on the Sunshine Tour, and the quality of young players coming through.”
FINAL SCORES (RSA unless specified):
205 - Jean Hugo 72 66 67
208 - Adilson da Silva (BRA) 71 69 68, George Coetzee 71 65 72
210 - Allan Versfeld 68 73 69, PG van Zyl 72 68 70
211 - Trevor Fisher Jnr 71 70 70
212 - Desvonde Botes 73 70 69, Jbe' Kruger 72 68 72
213 - Neil Schietekat 73 72 68, Andrew Curlewis 75 67 71, Johan du Buisson 72 70 71, Attie Schwartzel 69 71 73
214 - Coenie Stoop 72 74 68, Brandon Pieters 70 73 71
215 - Louis de Jager 75 70 70
216 - Peter Karmis 74 74 68
217 - Chris Swanepoel 70 76 71, Darren Fichardt 72 74 71, Justin Harding 69 75 73, Vaughn Groenewald 70 72 75
218 - Grant Muller 75 71 72, Christiaan Basson 74 70 74
219 - Lyle Rowe 76 70 73, Charl Coetzee 75 71 73, Willie van der Merwe 76 70 73, Warren Abery 76 71 72, Shaun Norris 74 70 75, Bradford Vaughan 74 75 70, Divan van den Heever 74 75 70, Michiel Bothma 75 74 70
220 - Ryan Tipping 73 71 76
221 - Andre Cruse 72 74 75, Ulrich van den Berg 71 76 74
222 - Merrick Bremner 77 71 74, David Hewan 77 72 73, Albert Pistorius 74 75 73
223 - PH McIntyre 76 72 75, Justin Walters 73 75 75
224 - Theunis Spangenberg 75 72 77, Derik Ferreira 75 74 75, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 73 76 75
225 - Doug McGuigan 74 75 76
228 - JJ Senekal 76 73 79
230 - Stuart Clark (WAL) 76 73 81
Report Day 1
Report Day 2
