Jarvis rallies to claim a come-from-behind win at Kyalami

Amateur Casey Jarvis carded a final-round six-under-par 66 on Wednesday to claim a come-from-behind win on 15-under in the Altron Big Easy Tour tournament that was played at Kyalami Country Club this week.

Ranked the sixth-best amateur in South Africa, Jarvis was a shot off the pace coming into the final round and credited some brilliant approach shots for his impressive comeback.

“The strategy was the same as the first two days,” said Jarvis. “I have been hitting the ball well but my approach shots have been really good this week, so I just kept giving myself chances. I was struggling a bit with the putter on the first nine but I just told myself to stay patient and they fell in on the back nine.”

Jarvis made a birdie to get his round going on Wednesday but a bogey followed immediately on the second hole. He was able to bring it back to one-under with a birdie on the fourth hole which proved to be his last birdie on the front nine to underline the struggle he mentions.

After his birdie on four, Jarvis, who plays out of State Mines Country Club went seven holes without dropping a shot, making pars to keep things steady. A healthy run of birdies then followed – from the 12^th through to the 15^th and Jarvis was not done yet. He made pars on 16 and 17 before closing off with a birdie to seal a round of 66 which earned him a four-stroke victory over Zambia’s Dayne Moore who was leading coming into the final round.

“I didn’t get upset with myself over the bogey I made,” Jarvis added, “it was a short one and I just told myself that I needed to stay patient and then they started falling in. I’ve been hitting it well all week. I was solid tee-to-green and, obviously, a few putts dropped, so I am extremely proud of myself for the effort out there this week.

“I just kept playing the game I was playing the whole week and I didn’t focus on what Dayne (Moore) was doing and it seemed to have worked.”

Jarvis is the second amateur to claim victory on the Altron Big Easy Tour this season after Christiaan Maas won the first event of the season at Blue Valley Golf Estate near Centurion in May.

“This win means a lot to me because I can get a few amateur world ranking points,” Jarvis said. “I’m just proud of myself. It’s good to win again. A big thanks to GolfRSA for everything they are doing for us; they give us the opportunity and exposure to come out here and play against these professionals – most of them are Sunshine Tour players. It’s really big for us amateurs to compete here because it turns our game up when you compete with the professionals out here.”

Moore fired in back-to-back 67s in the first two rounds but his final round of 71 was not enough to see him all the way and he takes home a runners-up finish this week. Sentanio Mannie secured his first top-five finish of the season, thanks to his solo third-place finish this week. He shot eight-under 208 this week. Luan Boshoff and Sunshine Tour player Chris Swanepoel share fourth on seven-under for the tournament.

The Big Easy Tour was founded in 2011 with support from Ernie Els and counts current international star Christiaan Bezuidenhout among its former Order of Merit winners.