Second European Tour title for hot Higgo

GARRICK Higgo aced the seventh hole yesterday on his way to his second European Tour title in three weeks as he romped to a six-stroke victory in the Canary Islands Championship on the European Tour.

He holed his tee shot on the 158metre par-three seventh to simply underline his superiority on the day, as he shrugged off two bogeys on his way to a seven-under-par 64 to finish well clear of Australian Maverick Antcliffe, whose 21-under-par was adrift of the top of the leaderboard by some distance.

“It’s amazing, and I’m happy to be done now,” said Higgo after he received a thorough drenching at the hands of his fellow South Africans once the final putt had dropped. “I’m very tired, but just really happy and thankful.

“It’s awesome having support of the South Africans out here. They’ve all taken me under their wing and I learn a lot from them.”

He became the youngest South African to three titles on the European Tour in just his 26th tournament on that circuit.

The win will take him within touching distance of the top 50 in the world and he will join a growing band of South Africans in the year’s second major championship, the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island in South Carolina on May 20.

Higgo started the day two shots clear at 20-under, and quickly made his intentions clear with a birdie on the first. While he bogeyed the second, he regained that shot with a birdie on three, and then he was on his way, putting daylight between himself and any challengers.

There were five more birdies, the ace, and a second bogey, but, in truth, the rest of the field was fighting for second.

Despite that, he said he felt some pressure. “I did feel pressure, from the start,” he said. “It’s not easy to lead. When I won two weeks ago, it was my first time. In this game, anything can happen.”

Meanwhile, Wilco Nienaber battled to find an accurate drive in the playoff yesterday in the Sunshine Tour’s and Challenge Tour’s Dimension Data Pro-Am on the Montagu course at Fancourt, but, in the end, that was not enough to stop him pulling off his maiden professional victory.

On the third play-off hole, he had two putts to win, and he took the opportunity with both hands after his birdie on the final hole got him into the play-off with Sweden’s Henric Sturehed. He cosied his 25-footer for birdie up close, and then tapped in for par to take advantage of the Swede going out of bounds off the tee.

“It’s not the nicest finishing hole if you’ve got some butterflies in your stomach, but I knew I was hitting it well and I just wanted to give myself a chance,” said Nienaber.

“It’s basically like match play. After I missed out the first time, I wondered if I was going to get the opportunity again. I finally got it.”