Brown bags maiden pro title at IGT CMR Pro-Am

Johannesburg rookie Luke Brown produced a stunning eagle finish to seal his first pro win on the IGT Challenge Tour in the CMR Golf Club Pro-Am on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old prodigy was composure and confidence personified as he held his nerve and boxed a 12-foot putt for eagle to end an enthralling three-man final round battle at CMR Golf Club.

Brown closed with a six-under-par 66 to beat Jason Rossiter by two strokes on 19-under 197. Joint overnight leader Ruan Korb finished a further stroke back.

“It was a tight fight from start to finish,” said Brown. “The three of us were still neck-in-neck after 17 holes and it could have gone either way. When I won my first IGT Challenge Tour title last year, I was still an amateur and it feels unbelievably good to get this first pro win under the belt.”

Brown and Korb headed into the final round tied on 13-under with Rossiter just one off the pace.

Over the first 17 holes, there was little to separate the trio. Korb edged into the early lead with a birdie start and moved to 16-under with back-to-back birdies at four and five. Brown birdied four and Rossiter had an eagle at the par five to stay in touch at 14-under.

Then Brown broke free of his playing partners with three birdies on the bounce from six.

“I hit a 6-iron into the first short hole and drained a 30-footer to start the birdie run,” said the Wanna Be A Champion Academy player. “I hit it close at seven from 130 metres out and boxed the putt and I hit it to two foot at the second short hole (eight).

Korb dropped to 15-under with a bogey at seven and Rossiter birdied nine to join Korb.

“I three-putted nine for bogey and had a shot lead, but it was short-lived, because Ruan birdied 10 to get to 16-under,” said Brown. “I went 1-up again with a birdie at 13, but also birdied 13 and then he had another birdie at 15 to get to 17-under.”

The last three holes decided the outcome of the tournament after Korb made it a three-way tie on 17-under with a birdie at 16.

“I birdied 16 to pull clear, but dropped at 17 with another three-putt bogey,” Brown explained. “I thought for sure we’d have a play-off. Then Ruan bogeyed 17 and made par at the last for a 69. The last hole has a tough tee shot, with trees on both sides and water trouble. I hit a pretty good tee shot and only had 170 metres left for my second. I hit a soft 7-iron into to the wind to 12 foot and holed the putt. It was especially sweet making that putt after the three-putt bogeys.”

Rossiter also had an eagle chance, but the Krugersdorp rookie three-putted for par had to settle for second after a final round 67.

Brown’s victory lifted him to ninth on the IGT Challenge Tour Money List and he hopes this bodes well for his goal to compete on the Sunshine Tour next season.

“I’m really pleased that I kept calm and composed during the round,” said the Sunninghill native. “It just goes to show how much I’ve learned this season to cope with the pressure. This win takes me to ninth on the Money List after 14 tournaments, and I’m really happy with my progress.

“This gives me a lot of confidence and hopefully I can play my way into the top 10 on the Big Easy IGT Challenge Tour in the last five events to go straight to the Sunshine Tour. But if I don’t, this still helps me to build experience for Q-School. Ultimately, my goal is to step it up to the next level.”

Final Result

All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified; amateurs indicated as AMA

197 - Luke Brown 65 66 66

199 - Jason Rossiter 67 65 67

200 - Ruan Korb 64 67 69

204 - Eric Nel 68 66 70

205 - Jason Roets 66 72 67

206 - Stephan Erasmus 70 69 67

207 - Johan Buitendag AMA 70 68 69

209 - Henning du Plooy AMA 72 72 65

211 - Ruhan van Dijk 73 70 68, Leon Vorster 71 69 71, Karl Lehmacher 70 70 71

212 - Michael-James Steyn 74 68 70, Jason Diab 69 73 70, Ruan Groenewald 71 70 71, WM Coetzee AMA 68 73 71

213 - Bryce Myburgh 77 66 70, Blain Sansom 72 70 71

214 - John McClean (NIR) 71 73 70, Harry Konig (ENG) 71 71 72, Dwayne Basson 76 69 69, Clinton Grobler 74 72 68, Patrick Thompson 78 68 68

215 - Thabiso Ngcobo 72 72 71, Mitchell Lightfoot 73 71 71, Tanaka Mhere AMA (ZIM) 70 75 70, Jancarel Rossouw AMA 73 68 74, Catherine Lau 73 73 69

216 - Peetie van der Merwe 71 72 73, Luke Kelly 72 69 75, Andrew Carlsson 69 71 76

218 - Donovan Liddicoat AMA 75 68 75, Liam Labuschagne AMA 73 68 77, Keelan van Wyk AMA 77 69 72, Darin de Smidt AMA 69 78 71

219 - Chandler Shaw AMA 72 71 76, Vickus Fleischman AMA 71 76 72

220 - Matthew Hands AMA 73 71 76, Gareth Sargent AMA 74 71 75

221 - Ivanna Samu 74 72 75, Michael Kok 73 75 73

222 - Paulo Serrao (POR) 74 70 78, Leon van der Walt AMA 70 75 77, Warric Dyers 74 73 75, Lincon Cele 70 77 75, Tristan Topka AMA 76 72 74

225 - Divan Marais 70 73 82

228 - Mpho Mafishe 75 73 80

229 - Jan-Louis Nel AMA 76 72 81

Credit: The IGT Challenge Tour

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