Port Elizabeth – He attributed his five-stroke win in the R1-million
Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament at Humewood Golf Club partly to a freakish
switch in wind during the final round on Saturday, but in truth Merrick Bremner
had it sewn up long before that.
He made
three consecutive birdies from 15 to 17 to move to 19-under-par as he went the
full 54 holes without making a bogey, and he ended up leaving Ruan Conradie,
Clinton Grobler and Sweden’s Jonathan Agren in a share of second despite superb
final rounds from all three of them.
“When I was
on 15, it was quite weird,” said Bremner.
“It was supposed to be into the wind
and it switched! God was smiling on me for some reason and so I hit two-iron
and four-iron and two putted there.
“The tee was
pushed up quite a bit on 16 so it was within reach with an iron. My tee shot
was bad and a little bit right and I got lucky with the lie. I hit to about
eight feet behind the hole and made that.
“And then on
17, the wind switched again and it played downwind which is unbelievable. I hit
the two-iron of my life and hit a seven-iron to about 10 feet. I just missed
the eagle putt and made birdie there, and that was it.”
It was his
sixth career win on the Sunshine Tour, but only his first on a coastal course
after second-place finishes at Langebaan in 2013 and at Fish River Sun in 2015.
“My
first-ever South African Open was here at Humewood,” he said, “when Ernie Els
won by a country mile in the end. I led the SA Open after three holes and then
failed dismally. But I’m happy to get the win at a coastal course.”
Conradie’s
was the best of three good rounds from the runners-up: He carded a superb
nine-under 63, which included a double-bogey six on the 16th. “I hit
my tee shot right while going for the green, and had to take an unplayable in
some thick stuff,” he said. “I couldn’t get up and down from the greenside
bunker after that.”
Rookie
Clinton Grobler looked every inch a contender all week, and his closing 66 just
underlined what he seems ready to do. Agren, who is very aware of his tendency
to get down on himself, was well pleased with his final round of five-under 67,
which matched his playing partner Bremner’s score, and was, equally,
bogey-free.
“It was the
first time ever for me that I was bogey-free in a tournament,” said Bremner.
“I’m really pleased with how I performed this week – mentally, I was really
good.
“This win
means a lot. A lot has happened. I haven’t played the best golf of late and I
made the switch back to my old clubs and that seemed to do the trick. I found
some form this week and I hope it can continue in the weeks to come.
“The lead
was too big to have too many emotions coming down 18. I would have had to throw
it away, but it feels good to have this win.”
Final leaderboard:
197 – Merrick Bremner 65 65 67
202 – Ruan
Conradie 69 70 63, Clinton Grobler 70 66 66, Jonathan
Agren 71 64 67
203 – Ruan
de Smidt 69 67 67
205 – Daniel
Greene 70 71 64, Daniel van Tonder 70 70 65, Doug
McGuigan 71 69 65, Andrew Curlewis 72 67 66, Steve
Surry 68 70 67
206 – Martin
Rohwer 72 68 66
– Sunshine Tour
