It’s been six years and four months since Titch Moore won a Sunshine Tour title, and it must have seemed as if it might take seven more as he trudged up the 18th for the fifth play-off hole in Sunday’s final round of the Telkom Business PGA Championship.
But he eventually made birdie on that hole to defeat Ulrich van den Berg after more than an hour of extra play, and after Van den Berg had had two opportunities to finish things off himself during the play-off.
And he is finally able to fulfil the wish of his six-year-old son who has been asking him for a trophy for all of his young life.
“It was also my younger son’s third birthday today,” said Moore, “so there’s real cause to celebrate.”
He fired a five-under-par 67 to go to 15-under-par for the tournament, a mark that Van den Berg matched with a birdie in his final hole of regulation play.
“I was happy just to get into the play-off,” said Moore. “I didn’t think 15 was going to be enough, but I made a birdie on 18 in regulation, made a nice putt coming down the hill.
“To play an extra five holes coming up that mountain was no problem when you come out on the winning end of it – I’m very chuffed.”
In the end, it was his consistency in regulation which probably sealed things for Moore. “I gave myself a couple of chances – I hit a beautiful shot on 13 and nearly made one, and that just got me in the mood.
“At the next hole, I hit it stone cold, and I just ground hard out there – and at the end of the day, whether I win in regulation or play-off, I’ll take it,” he said.
The play-off was a nerve-wracking affair, and Van den Berg looked the more likely winner throughout. In fact, he had two birdie putts to seal the deal during the second and third trips up the 18th in the play-off, but they just refused to go down.
And, as both players grew increasing tired and tense, their approaches to the par-five 18th became increasingly inaccurate. But their recoveries kept them going, and, in the end, Moore managed to nail it down after a monumentally difficult Van den Berg chip from down the embankment out of thick kikuyu grass slithered too far past the hole for him to make birdie.
Moore stepped up and rammed home the four-footer he had left and it was over.
There were others who had a chance to win: JJ Senekal hardly hit a fairway all day, and in the end, his two-under-par 70 was enough to give him third, while third-round leader Oliver Bekker stumbled on the home stretch with bogeys on 16 and 17, relegating him to a share of fourth with Danie van Tonder and Darren Fichardt.
“I feel really bad for Ulrich,” said Moore. “He’s a good player and he’s been playing nicely for a while. But I’ve also been knocking on the door for the last year. I had a lot of seconds last year, and to finally win a summer tournament on the Sunshine Tour is fantastic.”
Scores:
273 - Titch Moore 68 69 69 67
273 - Ulrich van den Berg 65 70 70 68
274 - JJ Senekal 70 68 66 70
275 - Danie van Tonder 67 69 71 68, Darren Fichardt 70 68 68 69, Oliver Bekker 65 71 66 73
276 - Tyrone Ferreira 70 67 72 67, Merrick Bremner 67 69 70 70
277 - Shaun Smith 66 75 70 66, Jacques Blaauw 71 70 69 67, Haydn Porteous 68 73 68 68, Neil Schietekat 72 70 65 70, James Kingston 69 69 67 72
278 - Colin Nel 68 72 73 65, Christiaan Basson 67 73 69 69, Daniel Greene 69 70 68 71, Vaughn Groenewald 70 67 69 72, Rhys West 68 68 69 73
279 - Anthony Michael 70 73 67 69, George Coetzee 66 69 74 70, Wynand Dingle 69 63 75 72, Erik van Rooyen 69 67 71 72, Ruan de Smidt 67 74 66 72
280 - Alex Haindl 71 71 68 70, Jean Hugo 69 72 67 72
281 - Heinrich Bruiners 74 69 68 70, Jbe' Kruger 71 68 69 73, Neil Cheetham 71 66 70 74
282 - Francois Coetzee 72 72 71 67, Dean Burmester 72 70 72 68, Adilson Da Silva 69 73 70 70, Trevor Fisher Jnr 70 68 73 71, Morne Buys 68 71 68 75
283 - Allan Versfeld 69 74 72 68, Ross Wellington 70 74 70 69, Doug McGuigan 69 71 70 73, Andrew Georgiou 71 71 68 73, Prinavin Nelson 70 73 67 73, Eddie Taylor 73 71 66 73
284 - Jake Redman 74 68 73 69, Peter Karmis 72 70 69 73
285 - James Kamte 68 72 72 73, Pieter Moolman 70 70 71 74
286 - Dylan Frittelli 74 70 74 68, Rhys Enoch 69 75 73 69, Ryan Tipping 71 72 71 72, Jaco Ahlers 71 69 73 73, Andrew Curlewis 70 70 73 73, JC Ritchie 73 68 70 75, Le Roux Ferreira 74 69 68 75, Francesco Laporta 69 71 69 77
287 - Steven Ferreira 69 73 73 72
288 - Steve Surry 70 74 72 72, Jack Harrison 70 73 72 73, Keenan Davidse 67 70 74 77
289 - Stuart Smith 72 70 74 73, Drikus van der Walt 72 72 71 74
290 - Lyle Rowe 73 68 76 73, Ryan Thompson 72 71 74 73, Callum Mowat 70 71 75 74, Toto Thimba 71 73 72 74, Shaun Norris 72 72 69 77
291 - PH McIntyre 71 73 77 70
292 - Divan van den Heever 70 71 79 72, Teboho Sefatsa 70 74 75 73
293 - Alan McLean 70 73 74 76, Warren Abery 70 72 74 77
295 - Torben Baumann 71 70 78 76
WDN - Graham van der Merwe 73 71 79 WDN
