Viljoen claims Big Easy Tour Champs

Jason Viljoen held his composure to claim his first professional win at the Big Easy Tour Championship on Thursday at Wanderers Golf Club to top the season long Order of Merit.

Viljoen started the day six-strokes ahead of Francios Coetzee, Desne Van Den Bergh and N.J. Arnoldi, however the pressure came from Bryandrew Roelofsz who carded a six-under 65 that left him two-strokes off Viljoen’s three-under-par total.

“The leaderboard always catches your eye and I knew there was pressure coming from him,” Viljoen said about Roelofsz. “I’m just really happy to keep it together and get the win,” he added.

With the win, Viljoen leapfrogged Mark Murless in the Big Easy Order of Merit standings, and it’s something that shows his consistency during the season.

“I wasn’t actually aware that I’d overtake Mark on the Order of Merit. The Tournament Director actually came up to me and told me I’d done so. So that’s obviously a massive bonus and again, it makes me really happy.”

Now a proven winner on the Big East tour, Viljoen will be looking to take his form into the remaining Sunshine Tour events and develop further as a player.

“Going forward, I don’t think I need to change much. My game is there and it’s just about executing the processes in the bigger events, I’ve got Ebotse, Simola, Humewood and Fish River Sun coming up and I’m looking forward to that.”

Thanks to his share of second alongside Van Den Bergh on one-under, Roelofsz finishes the season third on the Order of Merit ahead of Riekus Nortje, while Pieter Kruger rounds out the top-five.