Rama seals Virtual Sunshine Tour knockout victory

Rookie Nikhil Rama claimed a comfortable three-shot win over Heinrich Bruiners in the final of the Virtual Sunshine Tour knockout to become the very first champion of this virtual tournament.

A first for professional golf in South Africa, the #VST8Knockout featured eight golfers from the Sunshine Tour and Sunshine Ladies Tour. They competed against each other in a knockout format at Soweto Country Club, and all the matches were being streamed live on YouTube, Facebook and Twitch.

The first semi-final match was between Dwayne Basson and Rama and having been in fine form from the knockout stage, Rama won the match in the first playoff hole. Both players finished tied at one-under-par in regulation and while Basson made a par on the first hole of sudden-death, Rama made his birdie and won the match.

“It feels pretty good to win the #VST8Knocout,” said Rama, “I know it’s not like winning a tournament on the main Tour but it’s still nice to win and thank you to everybody who watched and supported us. “Winning the first virtual tournament is amazing for me because it’s something we’ve never done and I hope it can only grow from here. I can’ wait to get back on real tournaments and start competing again.”

In his semi-final match, Bruiners beat Oliver Bekker to book himself a spot in the final.

Scores:

67 – Nikhil Rama 35 32
70 – Heinrich Bruiners 35 35.