De Smidt Claims Altron Big Easy Win
BOKSBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - SEPTEMBER 1: Ruan de Smidt during day 3 of the Altron Big Easy at ERPM Golf Club on SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 in Boksburg, South Africa. EDITOR'S NOTE: For free editorial use. Not available for sale. No commercial usage. (Photo by Troy Winfield/Sunshine Tour/Gallo Images)
Ruan De Smidt claimed a come-from-behind one-shot victory over Ricky Hendler after a final-round four-under-68 gave him a tournament total of 11-under 205 in the eighth Altron Big Easy Tour tournament at ERPM Golf Club in the East Rand on Thursday.
De Smidt was one of four players who were trailing Gerhard Pepler by two shots coming into the final round – others being Ricky Hendler, amateur Jonothan Broomhead, and DK Kim – at seven-under after 36 holes. And until the 50th hole of this 54-hole tournament, De Smidt didn’t even consider himself a chance at glory.
“I’m really happy because I’ve played well in all the Big Easy tournaments so far and to finally get a win feels really good,” he said. “But I feel like I didn’t play very well at all today. I was just trying to get it together. I was only level-par through 14; I hit it into the water on the 14th hole and made a really good par there. And then, from there and all of a sudden, something clicked, and I made a couple of putts.”
De Smidt had a shaky start in the final round, dropping on the first hole. He made amends on the second when he made a birdie there before following that up with another on the fourth, the par-five. He dropped on five but bounced back with another birdie on six before dropping again to turn in 36.
Pars from the eighth to the 13th seemed to have steadied the four-time winner on the Sunshine Tour because two birdies and an eagle in a space of four holes followed as he sealed his second title on this Sunshine Tour development circuit.
“The birdie on 16 was a really solid one for me because I hit it right and I was almost dead against the tree and I had no swing,” De Smidt said, “but I hit a really good shot from there and holed it from off the green. And then, the par-five (17th where he made eagle) was just a nice eagle to make.”
De Smidt’s win comes at the back of some solid results on the Altron Big Easy Tour, which include a pair of third-place finishes, a seventh-place finish, two top-15s, and a top-25. He has missed the cut just once this season.
“This season, it feels like I’m starting to play better again,” added De Smidt, “the last two years have just been horrible. I was struggling through a couple of things; my swing, golf and just family-wise, it’s been a little rough. So, it’s nice to just try and get back into it and try to find my feet again and that’s why this win is important to me.”
The Big Easy Tour was founded in 2011 with support from Ernie Els and counts current international star Christiaan Bezuidenhout amongst its former Order of Merit winners.
SCORES:
205 – Ruan de Smidt 69 68 68
206 – Ricky Hendler 66 71 69
207 – DK Kim 69 68 70, Jonothan Broomhead 71 66 70, Gerhard Pepler 67 68 72
208 – Henning du Plooy 72 68 68, Coert Groenewald 69 69 70
209 – Adam Breen 73 68 68
210 – Slade Pickering 70 71 69
211 – Aneurin Gounden 74 71 66
213 – Thabang Simon 73 67 73
214 – Vaughn van Deventer 71 72 71, Makhetha Mazibuko 71 71 72, Christiaan Burke 66 74 74, Philip Geerts 69 70 75
215 – Nicholaus Frade 73 74 68, Gregory Mckay 74 72 69, Casey Jarvis 69 76 70, Gideon Pienaar 71 74 70, Carlo Heunis 73 71 71
217 – Thanda Mavundla 71 76 70, Stuart Krog 73 72 72
218 – Carlos Laranja 71 75 72, Ryan Tipping 69 76 73
219 – Keegan Mclachlan 69 75 75, Joshua Seale 71 71 77
220 – Slenda Sithebe 69 75 76, Reinhardt Blaauw 72 71 77, Allister de Kock 69 74 77
222 – Jonathan Waschefort 76 70 76
223 – Irvin Mazibuko 70 77 76
