Greene had a feeling … and his composure and skill took him all the way to victory
GQEBERHA, Eastern Cape – Daniel Greene had a feeling that his 12-year wait for a first win on the Sunshine Tour might come to an end this week at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series Humewood event and the 36-year-old never stopped believing, and his composure and skill was enough to take him to victory on the first hole of a playoff with Tristen Strydom.
Greene and Strydom both shot two-under-par 70s on Saturday to finish on five-under-par overall, and Greene parred the first playoff hole to take the honours when his younger rival, also looking for his first win, made bogey.
“You don’t really think after so long on tour without a win that it can happen, but it being windy here for the last week, I had a feeling from Tuesday that I could win and I just kept believing in myself. Even today on the 17th hole, when I was one behind, I still had that belief. My golf has improved inland but I’m still a lot more comfortable on the coast.
“For it to happen at Humewood, where I should have won in 2010, it’s surreal. Maybe I should believe in myself more often because it shows that nothing is out of reach, even 11 years later, if you never stop believing,” Greene said after his maiden title.
Back in 2010, in the Vodacom Business tournament at Humewood Golf Club, Greene finished second as he double-bogeyed both the 17th and 18th holes on the last day, allowing Ulrich van den Berg to snatch the win.
This time Greene was the beneficiary of an opponent letting it slip as Strydom bogeyed the 17th and after their respective bogeys on the last hole, the KwaZulu-Natalian had nothing but sympathy for the 24-year-old.
Strydom was ideally placed after his second shot was on the fringe of the green, but he decided to chip instead of putt and then missed a makeable par putt.
“It was unfortunate for Tristen and I know exactly what he feels like after it happened to me in 2010. He played very well and hit the ball really nicely, but all I was doing was concentrating on my score and taking it shot-by-shot. I didn’t know the score and when we both made bogey on the 18th, I asked him if he had won because people were clapping like he had,” Greene revealed.
It turned out their final scores were the same – five-under-par 211 – and Greene still had one more hole to play to exorcise his Humewood demons.
Given that half-a-dozen of Greene’s best performances have been on the coast, it was perhaps not that surprising that his perseverance was finally rewarded at Humewood’s famous links on an awfully windy day.