Respect for Englishman who finished 2nd
by Ken Borland 15 January 2012, 17:55
Jamie Elson failed to chase down the home town favourite, but he nevertheless earned huge respect for the scintillating 63 he fired in the final round of the Joburg Open at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on Sunday.
Elson's brilliant nine-under-par round on the tough East Course saw him vault to within one shot of eventual winner Branden Grace, and the Englishman said it was the mental side of his game that had made all the difference.
"For some reason I felt really relaxed today. It's funny because I'm normally quite anxious and yesterday I was so edgy out there. I can't put my finger on why I felt so different today, it must be something that worked in my mental preparation, but I just had this calmness about me," Elson said.
Elson eagled the 504-metre par-five 18th hole, changing the leaderboard dramatically as he shot up to 16-under-par, just one stroke behind Grace, who showed remarkable composure to keep it that way through his last nine holes.
"To close like that was quite something, it was just one of those days when everything went right for me. I took driver off the tee and leaked it right. I actually thought it was in the bunker. But I caught a decent lie in the rough and had a great yardage for my hybrid, which my caddie calls my 'magic-stick'.
"It just came out perfectly and pitched on the front of the green, and the reaction of the crowd told me it was pretty close to going in," Elson said.
As it turned out, Elson's heroics did not leave Grace much room to move, although the man who sank a 40-foot birdie putt to just earn his tour card never thought he would come that close to winning.
"We just have to see what happens now but I hope I get top five because that will get me into Abu Dhabi in two weeks," Elson said after his round, more than two hours before Grace finished only one stroke ahead.
So Abu Dhabi is where Elson is headed (he finished fourth there last year), although it could so easily have been Fancourt, where all the previous year's European Tour winners will line up in the lucrative Volvo Golf Champions tournament from Thursday.