Port Edward – With three top-10 finishes in his last three starts, CJ du Plessis is probably starting to feel that a win is just around the corner. He gets another shot at a maiden Sunshine Tour victory at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club on Wednesday in the SunBet Challenge hosted there.
Du Plessis’ runner-up finish at Mount Edgecombe on September 16 was the fourth in his career on the Sunshine Tour, and it was another in a list of results which shows he’s able to play in tough coastal conditions. So was his share of sixth in very difficult conditions at Humewood last week, so his coastal form is very recent as well.
Amongst his good performances at coastal courses, he has a share of fourth at the Wild Coast in 2014 which will give him encouragement as he continues his quest for that elusive victory. He also had a share of seventh at St Francis Links in 2018, and of second in the Sun Sibaya Challenge at Mount Edgecombe a month after his Eastern Cape performance that year.
Looking at his last three starts, it’s clear that Du Plessis is able to produce one very good round in each tournament. In the Sunshine Tour Invitational at Centurion, it was a 65 in the second round. At Mount Edgecombe, it was a 65 in the closing round, and at Humewood, it was a 69 in the final round. Besides those flashes, he was very consistent in those three tournaments, and it will need just one more round to be as good as his very best for him to make his breakthrough.
He’s up against other form players, too: Daniel Greene is fresh off his maiden Sunshine Tour win at Humewood last week, and Louis Albertse won his first title at Mount Edgecombe last month. Add to those names the proven firepower of the likes of Jean Hugo, Neil Schietekat and Jaco Prinsloo, and it’s clear Du Plessis has a tough task ahead of him.
But he has edged ever closer to that elusive triumph, and it would be no surprise should it come this week.
SA Tour Golf