Ryan rallies to hard-fought win at The Wanderers

Tyrone Ryan made a sensational return to the winner’s circle when he claimed a come-from-behind victory in the Betway Big Easy Tour #3 event held at The Wanderers Golf Club on Thursday.

The one-time winner on the Sunshine Tour carded a final-round one-under 70 to get to nine-under on Thursday, a shot clear of the resurgent Brandon Pieters, claiming a long-awaited win in the process.

His 2017 Sun Boardwalk Challenge victory had become a stuff of memory, having challenged for wins in many Betway Big Easy Tour events in recent times but to fall short at each turn, this win was particularly sweet to Ryan.

“This win means a lot,” he said. “I’ve been playing good golf. My golf’s been solid, I just not been able to put three rounds together or four rounds in the bigger events. To get the first two rounds under my belt this week was nice because then, you’re not chasing the whole time.

“So, I knew that today I just had to play solidly; the course was set up tough, the wind was gusting, so I knew I had to keep it solid, and luckily, I got the birdie on the last.”

Tied at eight-under with England’s Joe Sullivan and Pieters, who was already in the clubhouse – coming up the 18^th tee box, Ryan knew that a birdie or better on the last would give him an outright win to avoid the stress of a sudden-death.

Sullivan couldn’t birdie 18, and Ryan, having placed his approach shot to about eight or 10 feet of the flag, calmly rolled in his birdie-putt to snap a winless run that spans more than half a decade.

“Auto-pilot,” said. “That’s the word. I just thought that I needed to stay calm. I think I learnt a lot in the last few years about just it’s so nice to be out on the golf course than anywhere else. Even if you have bad days, you have to enjoy it, and when really good days come, like this one, you just have to keep going.

“It was nice. The last few months, the golf’s been good, so just enjoy it. Have fun out there. Three rounds under-par; I had a good second round, I was in contention, and then to close it off. It gives you that little bit of belief that you can cross the line and you can put three or four good rounds together in a tournament when you need to. That’s been the biggest thing for me; knowing that I can put together those rounds and be in contention.”

Ryan will go into next week’s event at Benoni Country Club with renewed confidence as he seeks to re-establish himself as one of the elite performers on this Sunshine Tour feeder circuit.

The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s feeder circuit and enjoys the support of the legendary Ernie Els among other patrons.