Ken Borland

BALLITO (KwaZulu-Natal) – Normally this season when Danie van Tonder has put pressure on the leader in the final round, things have headed south for the frontrunner, but on Friday it was all different as Luke Jerling held his nerve superbly to claim his maiden Sunshine Tour title as he won the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya at Umhlali Country Club.

Jerling fired a fantastic three-under-par 68 on Friday to finish on 13-under-par, beating Van Tonder, who closed with a 70, by four strokes in the end. But their gripping duel was much more closely fought than the final winning margin suggests, with Van Tonder, who began the day two behind, drawing level on the 13^th hole.

The former SA Open champion is also in great form at the moment, having won twice in August.

“It feels unbelievable to have finally won. There were times when I never thought this day would come and you wonder if you can get over the line,” a delighted Jerling said. “I haven’t been in this position for a while and going toe-to-toe with Danie was something I really enjoyed for the whole day.

“And the contest was a lot closer than four strokes, there were momentum swings all through the day. From the get-go, Danie came out firing, driving through a narrow gap and over the bunkers on the first hole. But I stuck to my game-plan, putted nicely on the tough greens and my iron play was solid. I was not overly aggressive.

“I really enjoyed being in contention with Danie. The other times I’ve been in contention, I didn’t really enjoy the moment, it was more a feeling of not wanting to mess up. So that’s testament to the work I’ve been doing with my coach Neil Cheetham. My swing really held up under the gun today and it felt like my day, momentum just seemed to be on my side,” Jerling said.

It was a tricky day out on the sub-tropical south-east African coast, with a strong wind blowing. That wind helped Jerling on the hole which he believed was the most critical to his triumph – the par-four 14^th.

“I made a really good birdie on 12 to go two ahead. But then on 13 the wind took my ball left into the trees. I chipped out sideways and then I thought I hit a good third, but the wind didn’t hit it and I was left with a tricky chip. I made bogey and Danie made birdie so that was another two-shot swing.

“But in retrospect it was actually good that Danie teed off first on 14 because he hit a really good shot and I had no choice but to be aggressive. It was playing 259m to the front edge and it was straight downwind. But three-wood was too much and I was worried that two-iron wouldn’t cover the water or the bunkers. In the end I threaded a two-iron between the bunkers, it was probably my shot of the day, leaving me with a 12-foot eagle putt, which I made.”

Jerling was suddenly three shots ahead when Van Tonder, who missed some crucial shortish putts in the final round, bogeyed the par-four 15^th. The Royal Johannesburg and Kensington golfer then parred his way in while Van Tonder, still pushing hard, bogeyed the last two holes.

Pieter Moolman, who has done well on this stretch of coastline before, finished third on eight-under-par, five strokes behind Jerling, after a 70 on Friday, while Heinrich Bruiners (69) had to share fourth place on seven-under with amateur Astin Arthur, who completed his outstanding week with a 71.

BALLITO (KwaZulu-Natal) – Luke Jerling rates Umhlali Country Club as being one of his favourite courses and he continued to show how comfortable he is on the 5943m Peter Matkovich design as he fired a second consecutive 66 on Thursday to claim a two-shot lead after the second round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya.

The 32-year-old Jerling had eight birdies but three bogeys on the first day, but he played much more controlled golf on Thursday, dropping just the one shot, on the tough par-four 15^th hole. A hot putter allowed him to collect six birdies as he goes into Saturday’s final round on 10-under-par.

“I really enjoy this golf course, I finished third here in this event last year and just missed out on a playoff,” Jerling said. “I’m not the longest hitter and this is not a bomber’s paradise. There are quite a few fiddly tee-shots and good par-threes.

“Fortunately my short game is my strength and I also made a few putts after struggling for a while with the putter. It was nice to see a few roll in and my iron-play was also very solid,” Jerling said.

Danie van Tonder is poised for another final-round charge as he lies second on eight-under-par, following a 67 on Thursday that included an eagle on the 489m par-five 10^th hole.

Pieter Moolman (66) and Astin Arthur (69), the amateur from nearby Mount Edgecombe who has won five events this year, are tied for third on seven-under-par.

Overnight leader Jacob Oakley endured a disappointing day as he shot a 75 to finish on four-under-par, still inside the top-10 though. There are a host of Sunshine Tour winners in the top-10, including the in-form Malcolm Mitchell, who is ninth on the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy.

Jerling has come close before to winning his maiden Sunshine Tour title, finishing third three times and being the runner-up in the 2022 Manguang Open. Although he is now based at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, Jerling is with the coastal players who are hoping for the wind to get up in the final round.

“The wind might pick up more and I won’t mind at all coming originally from Port Elizabeth, where you have to shape the ball a bit. It’s the sort of course where my game-plan will be the same whether I’m chasing the cut or enjoying a five-shot lead, I’ll hit the same shots.

“So I’m not going to think too much about the final round, although it would be lovely to get over the line. It’s actually a bonus being in contention because I’ve been doing some good work with my coach Neil Cheetham and we made a breakthrough last week with my driver and my transition of weight, getting a better turn off the ball with more width. I can see the improvement, which is exciting,” Jerling said.

CENTURION – The second round of the KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am at Irene Country Club was James Mack’s time to shine as the 25-year-old fired a spectacular 10-under-par 62 on Friday to claim a two-stroke lead in the R2 million Sunshine Tour event.

Mack began the second day two strokes off the lead but birdied the first and second holes to immediately close that deficit. He then birdied four successive holes from the seventh to the 10^th and then also gained a shot on the par-four 12^th. Further birdies on the 15^th, 17^th and 18^th holes sealed his phenomenal round and saw him overtake Martin Rohwer at the top of the leaderboard on 15-under-par.

Rohwer followed up his 66 in the first round with a seven-under-par 65 on Friday, taking him to 13-under. He collected nine birdies but had a double-bogey on the par-four fifth hole.

Mack’s bogey-free round was his lowest ever on tour and represents a fine comeback from missing the cut in the season’s opening event, the FBC Zim Open.

Rohwer birdied the par-five second hole but then made a six on the par-four fifth hole. But the Country Club Johannesburg golfer was then able to ease his way to four successive birdies from the seventh, and, after a birdie on the par-four 14^th he enjoyed a great finish as he birdied the last three holes.

Zimbabwean visitor Kieran Vincent was in third place after shooting a 67 to reach 10-under-par, sharing that spot with Rupert Kaminski, who posted a bogey-free 66.

First-round leaders Gerhard Pepler (75 for four-under) and Leon Vorster slid down the leaderboard on Friday. Pepler stumbled to a 75 and finished the second round on four-under-par, while Vorster shot an 80 and missed the cut on one-over-par.

The insignia of our mighty DP World Lions is a lion’s head with the mouth open to roar or feed, and men’s head coach Russell Domingo said on Monday that there is still a tremendous appetite within the squad to claim a second trophy this season and really stamp their names on the 2023/24 campaign.

The #PrideOfJozi are just two matches away from adding the CSA T20 Challenge to their four-day triumph, with neighbours and derby rivals the Momentum Multiply Titans their opponents in Wednesday’s semi-final at the DP World Wanderers Stadium.

With their two previous encounters this season both ending in last-ball victories for the home team, it is bound to be another intense outing against a Titans team that have won four games in a row leading into the semi-finals. But at the end of a long season, Domingo says our DP World Lions are primed to finish strong.

“It’s not a challenge to keep these guys hungry, they have the opportunity to win two out of the three competitions this season. We have no fears about them being jaded, they are all really up for it,” Domingo said on Monday at the moving launch of the DP World Beyond Boundaries initiative.

“There are also T20 World Cup spots up for grabs and the players know how important this last week of the competition is. If there’s any uncertainty about Proteas selection, then this tournament can really clarify things. It is still an important competition and there are some fantastic players involved in it.

“Everybody is still looking for that perfect game, that’s what we are striving for, even though you can never reach it – there’ll always be a wide or two. But we are just trying to get better, to stay grounded and not get too far ahead of ourselves,” Domingo said.

The former Proteas and Bangladesh head coach has mixed and matched his starting XIs in recent weeks, ensuring that the players are not only kept fresh, but that he has numerous options when it comes to deciding on a strategy to beat the Titans.

Will Lutho Sipamla and Codi Yusuf bowl in the powerplay or will Delano Potgieter bring his swing bowling into the mix? Or will Wiaan Mulder take the new ball with left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin and Evan Jones also feature in the powerplay?

In the batting, will Ryan Rickelton and Reeza Hendricks open, or will one of Rassie van der Dussen or Temba Bavuma go up the order? Will Zubayr Hamza or Connor Esterhuizen feature? Where does Mitchell van Buuren fit into the scheme of things?

“Obviously we have a lot of options. There are so many different bowlers we can use in the powerplay and it’s a good thing not to be predictable because then teams can not always plan against you,” Domingo said.

“We’ve also mixed the batting order around and the guys have all really bought into it. Full credit to them, they’ve got on with it. Maybe in the last couple of games we’ve lacked a really big score, so hopefully someone in the top four will be our in-batter at the death this time.

“But we are in a very blessed position and we’ve had a good competition, winning 10 out of 14 matches to top the log, and two of those lost games were off the last ball. So we have competed well.

“In terms of selection, I’ve tried to take performance out of it and given as many guys opportunity as possible. That has served us well, but it’s time to settle down now,” Domingo said.