Jared enjoys second win
Jared Harvey took top honours at Gary Player Country Club on Friday, claiming his second victory in as many tournaments on the Sunshine Big Easy Tour.
“It’s a great feeling to have two wins under my belt. The rookies always struggle with their sense of belonging on the tour, and this has just shown me what I can achieve,” he said.
The champion was in a class of his own at Sun City, reaching six-under-par in 36 holes for a five-stroke victory over runner-up Attie Schwartzel, the only other player to finish below par.
Harvey, who won at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club two weeks ago, continued to shine through to this week. An opening 67 meant that it was really his to lose on the final day, and that was something he didn’t do.
“I just tried to feed off my win at Royal East,” he said. “That was a hard mental barrier, because with a first win you have your doubts. That experience helped me stay in the moment today, and the stretch felt fine even though the pressure was at its highest.
“I put myself into such a great position with yesterday’s round. Today I knew that somewhere around par would be good enough, and that just helped me to stay focused.”
The Mount Edgecombe Country Club representative was optimistic about the future and said:
“I feel like all aspects of my game are working well. It’s nice to have that sort of confidence, and it just makes golf that much easier. It’s a tough game, and when you have that inner confidence it becomes enjoyable to play, and that’s where I am.
“Hopefully I’ll take some of this form on to the main tour. There’s not much to lose now, because I’ve pretty much sewed up my spot in the Tour Championship with these two wins. And that means in the last few events I can really just go for it.”
The next stop on the Big Easy Tour is Maccauvlei Golf Club. It’s Schwartzel’s home course, and his second-place finish this week is the perfect buildup to the tournament. The 24-year-old has finished in second place twice now, and will surely hunt a win on home soil.
SCORES (RSA unless otherwise specified):
138 - Jared Harvey 67 71
143 - Attie Schwartzel 70 73
145 - Shaun Smith (AMA) 74 71
146 - Martin du Toit 74 72, Graham van der Merwe 72 74
148 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi (AMA) 77 71, Jeff Inglis (ENG) 75 73, Wynand Dingle 72 76
149 - Derik Ferreira 80 69, Riekus Nortje 78 71
150 - Alpheus Kelapile 81 69, Juan Langeveld 76 74, Mark Williams 74 76
151 - Steven Ferreira 75 76
152 - Stuart Clark (WAL) 79 73, Michael Dreyer 77 75, Beyers Smith 77 75, Tyrone Ryan 75 77, Sammy Daniels 71 81
153 - Vickesh Singh 78 75, Drikus van der Walt 82 71, David Ryan 76 77
154 - Michael Hollick 78 76, Lean Boezaart 78 76, Morne Buys 78 76, John Bele 77 77, Coenie Stoop 77 77,Francois Coetzee 75 79
155 - Roberto Lupini 79 76, Mark Fensham 79 76, Albert Tsai 80 75, PG van Zyl 75 80
156 - Clifford Howes 79 77, Ross Wellington 78 78, Dayne Moore (ZAM) 78 78, Divan Gerber 78 78, Pieter Moolman 81 75,Walter Els 82 74, Henk Alberts 75 81
157 - Brendan de Lange 79 78, Bennie van der Merwe 79 78, Steven van Heerden 79 78, Paul Bradshaw 77 80, Ryan Thompson 77 80,Teboho Sefatsa 81 76
158 - Irvin Mazibuko 79 79, Michael du Toit 80 78, Kenneth Dube 82 76, Brett Liddle 82 76
159 - Thriston Lawrence (AMA) 79 80, Ignatius Mketekete (ZIM) 78 81, Patrick Spindler 80 79, Yubin Jung 82 77, Thabo Maseko 83 76
161 - Blanche Lamprecht 80 81
162 - Ashley Roestoff 80 82, Johan Bekker 85 77
163 - Mikhail Tewary 80 83
164 - Wandile Gininda 81 83
166 - Warren Holland 83 83
167 - Coenie Bester 83 84, Zuko Sangqu 83 84, Nathan Waghorn 84 83, Willie Steyn 85 82, Thabang Simon 92 75
168 - Louis Calitz 80 88
172 - Thanda Mavundla 85 87
