Dylan Mostert pulled a come-from-behind playoff win of the IGT Chase #4 at The Els Club, Copperleaf in Centurion for his maiden IGT Tour title, on Wednesday.
Mostert – one of a few Sunshine Tour campaigners who make up this week’s field at Copperleaf – was a single stroke off the pace coming into the final round, thanks to his back-to-back four-under 68 rounds of this 54-hole event. He was trailing five-time winner on the Sunshine Tour, Daniel van Tonder and Golf RSA National Squad member, Yurav Premlall who were both nine-under-par and in a share of the lead after 36 holes.
“It’s always good to be under pressure and contending,” said Mostert, “it’s always nice to chase but it’s better to have a strong lead. If you’re not leading, try to stay as close as possible and start putting pressure on the back nine.”
He has two Big Easy Tour titles under his name and with his victory at Copperleaf, Mostert feels good again and will aim to lift a title on the Sunshine Tour.
“It’s always great to win and every win is a little bit sweeter no matter what tournament it is,” he said, “I’m happy with where my game is at and I’m excited about the upcoming Sunshine Tour events.”
While Mostert navigated the Copperleaf layout to eventually sign for a 70 in the final round which took his total score to 10-under for the week, Van Tonder’s level-par final round was not enough while Premlall forced himself into a playoff with a fine display of grit, signing for a 71 to total 10-under, too.
The first playoff hole saw both Premlall and Mostert making par on the 18th. Premlall had a chance for birdie there but the ball stopped right on the lip of the hole and Mostert made a six-feet par-putt.
The second hole of sudden-death was played on the 10th hole and the 17-year old Premlall played a beautiful shot which landed in the middle of the fairway while Mostert found the rough. Premlall failed to capitalise on his brilliant shot and ended up on the greenside bunker where he struggled to escape. A great second shot by Mostert to within 12-feet, and he picked up a tournament-winning par there.
