Darren Fichardt made it look all too easy on his way to a record-equalling biggest victory margin in the history of the Vodacom Business Origins of Golf Tour at Selborne Golf Estate on Friday.
On a wet and windy final day, the Pretoria professional crushed the rest of the field with a seven-stroke triumph in the KwaZulu-Natal tournament, closing with a 67 to win on 18 under par. Jbe' Kruger and Keenan Davidse finished second on 11 under par.
Fichardt ties Thomas Aiken, who won the Final at The Links in 2004 by seven strokes, for the biggest victory margin on the series.
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"I wanted to pip Thomas by one, but it's a nice bonus to achieve something like that," said Fichardt, who went into the final round with a three-stroke lead and was never challenged.
But several players did their best to make a fight of it on the final day.
Defending champion Jean Hugo charged through the field with four consecutive birdies in his first five holes to climb to 10 under. But he fell away with a double bogey on the par-four eighth.
Kruger birdied three of his first four holes and then added back-to-back birdies early on the back nine to climb to 11 under, which is where he remained. And Davidse collected four consecutive birdies from the ninth to surge to 13 under before a double bogey on the par-three 15th stopped his charge.
But in truth, none had the answer for how to catch a man with seven Sunshine Tour and two European Tour victories, and who knows exactly how to close out a tournament.
An early birdie on the third settled Fichardt. But his dominance was at its most impressive over the turn, where he distanced himself from the field with five straight birdies from the eighth hole. And the healthy lead allowed him the luxury of two bogeys in his final four holes.
"I lost a bit of focus near the end because I had such a big margin. But I just tried to keep myself in the present and pulled it through." Fichardt spoke earlier in the week of how he was finally over the tendonitis which has plagued him this season. One of his goals for 2010 is also to play his way back onto the European Tour.
"I've been practising hard, working hard in the gym and been getting committed again. I've got some big goals to achieve and it was nice to get a win under the belt, especially by this kind of margin. - Sapa
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