Rhys Enoch held his nerve to hole a stunning birdie on the final hole and claim the biggest win – and pay-day – of his golfing career at the Cape Town Open.
The 29-year-old Welshman won by a single shot from South Africa’s Peter Karmis to clinch victory with a 19-under par total – and a first prize of £14,600 to take his total on the Sunshine Tour this year to £18,000.
The Cardiff-based golfer, who is attached to Celtic Manor, shot rounds of 64, 69, 67 and 69 to move up to No.382 in the official world rankings. His final round of 69 was three under par.
The victory earned him an automatic ticket into the Tshwane Open at the Pretoria Country Club this week, a tournament co- sanctioned with the PGA European Tour, and caused him to re-arrange his travel plans having already booked his return flight home to Wales.
Victory seemed a long way off for Enoch when he posted back-to-back bogeys in the opening two holes of his final round. But he battled back into contention and stayed strong to the end.
“The first two were both into the wind and quite awkward. I didn’t really do a lot wrong. But I told myself to just stay patient and keep making good swings,” explained Enoch.
Despite making three birdies and dropping three shots on the front nine, Enoch held on nicely on the homeward nine and while he made bogey on the 17th, three birdies and an eagle made their way onto his scorecard.
“I got on to the leaderboard at 13 and saw I was four behind. I was like ‘I need to make a move’. I hit a really nice drive that just cracked into the left rough, had a pretty good line to about 15-feet and managed to make it for eagle on 14,” he added.
“So, that was a massive move. I just couldn’t be happier to finally get a four-round win – you have to savour the moment.”
It looked like Karmis would force the round into a play-off when both players were tied at the top on 19-under, only for Karmis to miss his par putt on 18 and drop a shot. With that, Enoch claimed his maiden Sunshine Tour victory by a single stroke at a packed King David Mowbray Golf Club.