Van Tonder wins second leg of Sunshine Tour Rise-Up Series

Van Tonder showed his ever-growing maturity in the African Bank Championship, holding his final round together and posting a bogey-free 68 to win the Sunshine Tour’s second Rise-Up Series event by three strokes.

He started the final day tied for the lead with in-form Martin Rohwer and rising star Jayden Schaper, but they fell away and his greatest challenge came from the experienced Neil Schietekat, who birdied three holes in succession from the second to briefly move into a one-shot lead on eight-under-par.

The 29-year-old Van Tonder, from The Els Club Copperleaf, even had to contend with hitting into the water on the par-five second hole.

He managed to scramble his way up-and-down for a par, however, and his patience started paying off once he birdied the par-four fifth.

He gained another shot on the seventh, and birdies on the two par-fives on the back nine saw him saunter to victory as Schietekat (69) finished on eight-under, tied for second along with Adilson da Silva (67) and George Coetzee (68).

“Sometimes it’s just your week. To be honest I felt I played good golf the whole week,” Van Tonder said after his fourth Sunshine Tour triumph.

“I was consistent and I was confident in my game. I kept the same aggression as the first two rounds but just made sure I missed in the right place.”

Veteran Da Silva produced some marvellous golf to climb into a share of second, birdieing the 16th and 18th holes, both par-fours, to post a 67, joint best round of the day with Tristen Strydom, who lifted himself into a tie for 13th.

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