Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe pulled off his maiden Japan Golf Tour victory on Sunday when he capped a wire-to-wire win in the Sansan KBC Augusta at Keya Golf Club, Fukuoka with a closing four-under-par 68.
He went bogey-free in his final round, picking up shots on the first, sixth, ninth and 15th as he finished one ahead of Ryo Ishikawa. Akio Sadakata was third on 15-under, a further shot behind the victorious Vincent.
It is the third year Vincent has plied his trade on the Japan Golf Tour, and he is the first Zimbabwean to win on that circuit since Nick Price won the Suntory Open back in 1999. In his debut season in 2016 on the Asian Tour, he won Rookie of the Year. He finished runner-up on that tour on five occasions. He had to wait until 2019 for his sole professional victory, which he achieved at the Landic Challenge 7 on the Japan Challenge Tour.
On Sunday, he had to make a dramatic finish to overcome the trouble he faced. He had a one-shot lead going up the 18th. “I told myself anywhere except left. But it went way left. I thought it was out of bounds,” he said.
Luckily, the ball was inside the out-of-bounds zone, but under an overhang. His caddie, wife Kelsey, told Scott to calm down, and not be upset about what had already happened. He was able to chip it out to the fairway. His third shot reached right fringe, and he got to within a metre with his wedge.
“The putt felt so long,” he said, but he made it to win.
Behind him, Shaun Norris carded a two-under 70 to finish in a share of 13th, and Jbe’ Kruger went two-over to finish in a share of 37th.
