Lawrence is not yet an expert at winning, but he won the SA Open title



At 26, Triston Lawrence is not yet an expert at finishing wins, but his temperament and skill were enough to lead him to a thrilling one-stroke victory at the South African Open at Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate on Sunday.

Lawrence led by five shots with seven holes remaining, but allowed Frenchman Clement Sorda to return to the contest with a disastrous run that saw him miss five shots between 12th and 16th holes, including double gods at par four 15th, when he hit his second in the river.

Sorde leveled off with a par-four 14.th after a long run fired at 12 feet. But the Challenge Tour graduate then blinked as he missed a six-foot par shot on the penultimate hole, followed by his par-5 18 shot.th went into the fairway bunker, which meant he had to lay down and couldn’t pressure Lawrence.

South African who collected four birds between the fourth and tenthth holescould afford to miss a three-foot birdie and still win by one.

“In a one-on-one game like this, you have to double up and not make mistakes, even when I was five ahead,” Lawrence said after his speech. third DP world tour winthey will all come this year.

“Inwardly, I am not always calm, but it comes with experience, having been in such a situation, and once you win, everything adds up in terms of experience. It’s a big mental thing and I try to think about the present.

“So it was nice to see that I was able to stay in the moment even though I was nervous. I was five ahead and didn’t want to disappoint my friends, family and sponsors. Until the age of 18, there were quite a lot of emotions, it was a strange but pleasant feeling.

“Winning is never easy, that’s the hardest part, but you learn from experience. In the middle of the round it was easy, but then golf happened, and the finish was not the most beautiful. But I just tried to stick to my game,” said Lawrence.

Not the start he wanted

Starting the last round two shots ahead of Sorde, Lawrence didn’t get the start he wanted as he scared the first hole and Sorde lined up with a birdie.

Read more: Lawrence having fun while Sordet puts pressure on

But an even bigger wobble came on the fourth par-four when Lawrence landed a superb eight-foot throw from the pin and made a birdie, while the 30-year-old Sorde found a fairway bunker and then hit his second out of bounds. , resulting in a double bogey.

Suddenly, Lawrence was ahead by three, and he extended that lead to five with another roll in fifth and consecutive wins at 9 and 10.

Christian Maas of Pretoria Country Club won the Freddie Tate Cup for the top amateurs, finishing five under par. All five members Roster of the GolfRSA team those who received invitations to the tournament made the list, this was the first time in at least 30 years, and exactly what the supporters of the amateur program wanted.

Read more: Strydom sets new course record at Blair Atholl, Lawrence still leads SA Open