“I’m speechless. Like I said I’ve been working really, really hard at this. You know, you never really know until that last putt falls. Thanks to my team. They’ve been there from day one. I feel this is a start of big things to come and I’m looking forward to what’s ahead,” Kruyswijk said as he was crowned the new Lion of Africa Cape Town Open champion.

 

Kruyswijk warded off stiff competition from last year’s champion Brandon Stone who shared second position with Justin Harding, both of whom were tied at 15-under-par 273, when he signed for a total of 17-under-par 271 at South Africa’s oldest golf club.

 

The 24-year-old Kruyswijk showed a great composure when he birdied the 16th hole to pull away from closest competitor, Harding, who, until that time looked like he would take the contest to a play-off. 

 

Kruyswijk ‘s victory follows a solid two weeks of intense preparation which included mountain-biking and cross-fitness training, coupled with mental preparation to dethrone Brandon Stone as the new champion. 

 

Stone had a solid final round in which he carded a five-under-par 67 to take his total to 15-under and finish second, alongside Harding who plays out of Stellenbosch Golf Club. Sharing fourth was the trio of Zander Lombard, Zimbabwe’s Mark Williams and Andre De Decker who all finished the tournament on 14-under-par.

 

Kruyswijk now sets his sights on next week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship and is feeling confident ahead of the tournament. “I am very confident – this gets me into Alfred Dunhill. I wasn’t in Alfred Dunhill until this week so this is a huge thing for me going into that event,” said the new champion.

 

Scores:

 

271 - Jacques Kruyswijk 67 66 68 70

 

273 - Brandon Stone 66 70 70 67, Justin Harding 68 68 68 69

 

274 - Zander Lombard 69 72 67 66, Mark Williams 70 67 70 67, Andre de Decker 70 70 66 68

 

275 - Jaco Ahlers 68 72 68 67

 

276 - Dylan Frittelli 69 73 70 64, Dean Burmester 70 71 67 68

 

277 - Jake Redman 71 70 72 64, Jacques Blaauw 70 69 70 68, Tjaart van der Walt 69 70 69 69, Jbe' Kruger 70 68 67 72

 

278 - Jeff Inglis 74 69 68 67

 

279 - Mark Murless 70 71 70 68, Oliver Bekker 69 73 68 69, JJ Senekal 73 72 65 69, Michael Palmer 63 74 72 70, Neil Schietekat 71 68 70 70, Peter Karmis 71 69 69 70

 

280 - Anthony Michael 68 70 73 69, Madalitso Muthiya 71 73 67 69, Makhetha Mazibuko 70 71 69 70, Andrew Georgiou 71 70 67 72

 

281 - Tristen Strydom 70 71 74 66, JC Ritchie 71 69 70 71

 

282 - Danie van Tonder 75 67 73 67, Bryce Easton 68 74 72 68, Le Roux Ferreira 71 72 71 68, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 67 70 75 70, Drikus Bruyns 70 71 71 70, Titch Moore 69 74 69 70, Warren Abery 70 74 67 71, Heath Slocum 70 70 70 72

 

283 - Jared Harvey 71 73 70 69, Rhys Enoch 73 72 68 70, Steven Ferreira 69 75 68 71, Hennie Otto 70 75 67 71

 

284 - Ryan Tipping 68 71 77 68, Ryan Cairns 68 75 72 69, Doug McGuigan 72 73 69 70, James Kamte 69 71 72 72, Louis de Jager 69 68 74 73

 

285 - Daniel Greene 69 76 73 67, Matthew Carvell 67 77 72 69, Teaghan Gauche 69 72 74 70, Wynand Dingle 68 71 74 72, Rhys West 73 70 70 72

 

286 - Wallie Coetsee 69 73 72 72, Morne Buys 71 74 68 73, Morten Orum Madsen 71 72 67 76

 

287 - Keenan Davidse 74 69 72 72, Jean-Paul Strydom 70 73 68 76

 

288 - Heinrich Bruiners 72 72 78 66, Kevin Rundle 73 71 74 70, Theunis Spangenberg 76 67 72 73

 

289 - Ross McGowan 72 70 77 70, Jake Roos 74 66 72 77

 

290 - Lindani Ndwandwe 69 76 75 70, Grant Veenstra 72 73 73 72, Werner van Niekerk 71 68 73 78

 

292 - Vaughn Groenewald 72 72 74 74

 

294 - Callum Mowat 70 73 76 75

 

296 - Bradford Vaughan 72 73 77 74

 

RTD - Ulrich van den Berg 73 71 70 RTD