MBABANE – Jaco Ahlers didn’t drop a single shot in the final round of the King’s Cup at Royal Swazi Spa Golf Club in eSwatini on Saturday as he cruised to a three-stroke victory for his eighth Sunshine Tour title.
In fact, he made just one bogey all week as he carded six-under-par 66 to leave Daniel Greene in second place on 16-under-par for the tournament, with Alex Haindl and Estiaan Conradie sharing third a further shot back.
Despite such flawless golf, Ahlers still felt the pressure as he moved towards what became an inevitable victory as the day wore on. “I did enjoy the day out there, but I made it a bit more difficult than I wanted,” he said. “I had to make up and down a few times which I didn’t have to do on the first few days and that made it a bit more stressful.”
It was a round in which he made scoring on the four par-fives count for him. Birdies on each of them – he missed out on birdie just once on the par-fives the whole week when he made par on the fifth in the first round – meant he had a solid base on which to build his victory.
“Coming down the stretch, the birdie on 17 meant a lot because it made the tee shot on 18 a lot easier,” he said of the final par-five birdie for the week. “I would have like to have made the final round even less stressful but it’s in the books and that’s all that counts.”
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/JacoAhlers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JacoAhlerswins the #KingsCup by 3 shots at 19-under par👏🏻 #ItBeginsHere pic.twitter.com/1NqZPlhB44
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour)
Part of the stress came from the fact that he hadn’t won since February 2018, and that he had lost his playing privileges on the European Tour. “It’s been a tough few months,” he said. “I took some time off, didn’t play in the previous tournament in Swaziland and had two months at home. I just had to reflect on a few things and start working on them. It’s nice to see the work come off.
“It’s great to get some form going, with the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the European Tour in two or three weeks. Then it’s the push to end the season and try and get my card for Europe for next year – so this win is a big leap forward.
“It doesn’t change my mindset for the next few months. I just keep working at it and try and smooth some things over. If it wasn’t for the putter this week, it would have been different. I hit it nicely for the first two days and today wasn’t as good as it was. There are a few things to work on – Europe is a bit of a bigger stage and if you make a few mistakes, you get penalised. So I’m just going to keep working hard.”
Greene continued to show that he has the wherewithal to win with his second consecutive six-under-par 66 to go with his opening 68. It was just not enough to threaten Ahlers, and neither was the 67 from Haindl nor the 69 from Conradie.
Behind them, Jaco Prinsloo, Neil Schietekat, Philip Geerts and Peetie van der Merwe finished in a share of fifth on 14-under-par.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/JacoAhlers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JacoAhlersclaimed a three-shot victory of the #KingsCup to make it eight career wins on Tour. #SunshineTour #ItBeginsHere #RoyalSwaziSpa #golfinafrica
Read more: https://t.co/meLvCnpCeY pic.twitter.com/JOXZgd1F7x
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour)
For Ahlers, it’s all about taking the confidence he gains from this win and running with it. “Confidence makes a big difference, and it’s been down the last few months, and this gives me a lot of confidence that I can still do it,” he said. “I still had my doubts coming down the last two holes. As a golfer, you always tend to think negatively, so it’s a big plus to see that I could pull it off.”
Scores:
197 - Jaco Ahlers 66 65 66
200 - Daniel Greene 68 66 66
201 - Alex Haindl 66 68 67, Estiaan Conradie 65 67 69
202 - Jaco Prinsloo 69 67 66, Neil Schietekat 70 66 66, Philip Geerts 67 67 68, Peetie van der Merwe 67 67 68
204 - Jacques Blaauw 70 70 64, James Hart du Preez 69 67 68, Andre Nel 68 66 70, Ruan de Smidt 66 68 70
205 - Ruan Conradie 68 71 66, Titch Moore 65 69 71
206 - Christiaan Basson 67 72 67, Rhys West 71 67 68, Hennie Otto 71 67 68, Martin Rohwer 67 67 72
207 - Thriston Lawrence 69 71 67, Clinton Grobler 68 69 70, Jacques P de Villiers 65 71 71, Benjamin Follett-Smith 64 72 71, Fredrik From 67 69 71, Toto Thimba 66 68 73
208 - Riekus Nortje 70 70 68, Doug McGuigan 68 71 69, Callum Mowat 68 71 69, Theunis Bezuidenhout 69 68 71, Wynand Dingle 67 67 74
209 - Jake Redman 69 71 69, Jason Roets 69 71 69, Paul Boshoff 71 68 70, Keenan Davidse 67 72 70, Tyrone Ryan 71 68 70, Dylan Mostert 70 67 72
210 - Teaghan Gauche 70 69 71, Ryan Cairns 69 69 72, Teboho Sefatsa 67 70 73
211 - Trevor Fisher Jnr 68 72 71, Pieter Moolman 69 68 74
213 - Darin de Smidt 69 70 74, Herman Loubser 68 71 74
214 - Dylan Naidoo 67 73 74
215 - Thanda Mavundla 73 67 75