NATIONAL NEWS - Terence Boardman fired a superb seven under 65 to defeat Anton Haig by one stroke on 12-under-par 204 in the Kyalami Challenge on Wednesday.
But as soon as Boardman collected his trophy for his maiden pro win the IGT Tour, he praised Haig for pulling out from under a blanket of guilt.
“It felt so weird to beat Anton when he inspired me to win,” said 27-year-old Glendower professional.
“He should that the way he spoke out about his drug addiction on Monday was a turning point for me. I also checked myself into rehab last year, because I needed help to kick my addiction, but I still struggled with the shame that I let things go that far. To hear a player of Anton’s calibre talk about his own struggles just helped me to get the monkey of my back.
“When I missed out on my card at the Sunshine Tour Q-School by just one shot, it would have been so easy to comfort myself with drugs, but I fought it with everything I had. It’s not easy to live a clean life; it’s a constant struggle to avoid temptations and triggers that sends you down the rabbit hole.
“I want a pro golf career, that’s why I did the time in rehab. But thanks Anton, I played with a freedom and confidence today that I haven’t felt in years.”
“I wasn’t hitting the ball that well on the front nine, but suddenly I was on fire with my irons and my putter on the back nine,” he said.
“I hit it to 10 feet at 10 and made the birdie putt, and knocked a five-footer for birdie in at 11. At 12, I had a three-footer for birdie and at 13 I hit driver, six-iron and two-putted for another birdie.
“I burned the edge of the hole at 14 and made par, and parred the 15th after another near miss on the low side. I made a huge downhill putt from 35 feet for another birdie at 16 and knocked in a five-footer for birdie at the short hole to get to 12 under.
“Anton birdied 17 behind me, but I had a two shot cushion, so I just tried to stay positive and calm. I hit my tee shot down the middle of the fairway, but I hit my four-iron approach pin-high right of the green. I was just short of the hazard and the nerves set in a bit. I hit the chip a little too hard and it raced past the hole.”
After Boardman left his birdie putt four feet short, he boxed the tester for par and the victory.
FINAL RESULT
204 - Terence Boardman 70 69 65
205 - Anton Haig 63 71 71
207 - Coert Groenewald 66 70 71
212 - Sheldon Steyn ZIM 72 68 72, Eddie Taylor 73 67 72, Justin Turner 69 70 73
213 - Louis Taylor 71 74 68, Matthew Spacey 71 69 73
214 - John McClean NIR 73 70 71, Damian Naicker 73 69 72, Sam Botham ENG 69 72 73
215 - Juan Langeveld 69 76 70, Pieter Moolman 70 73 72
216 - Calvin Caldeira 75 69 72, Duane Keun 70 74 72
217 - Marco De Beer (AMA) 69 74 74, Hilton Hughes (AMA) 74 69 74, Dylan O'Leary 74 68 75
218 - Norman Beggs 74 68 76
219 - Eric Nel (AMA) 75 72 72
220 - Jacques de Villiers 72 71 77, Thabi Ngcobo (AMA) 76 72 72
221 - Christo Hattingh 74 72 75, Owen Grobler 74 71 76, Ryan Woolley (AMA) 74 74 73, Steven le Roux (AMA) 71 73 77, TJ Bekker 71 77 73
222 - Alastair Waddell ENG 75 72 75, Armand Azar (AMA) 72 77 73
223 - Jonathan Waschefort 74 73 76
224 - Bryce Myburgh 73 72 79, CJ Levey 76 72 76
226 - Keaton Slatter (AMA) 72 74 80, Leon Visser (AMA) 75 71 80, Matthew Adams (AMA) 74 72 80, Gregg Blainey ENG 73 74 79, Quintin Crause (AMA) 74 74 78, Burger Heckroodt 78 72 76
227 - Ricardo Towell 75 74 78, Basil Wright 79 71 77, Dwayne Coetzee 75 76 76, Louis Botha 76 77 74
231 - Clinton Cheia 75 74 82
232 - Michael Kok (AMA) 76 74 82, Matthew Vogel 77 74 81, Maverick Faber (AMA) FRA 77 75 80
234 - Matt Wollman (AMA) ZIM 76 77 81
238 - Dean Du Plessis (AMA) 77 74 87
WDN - Ryan Wingrove (AMA) 77 76 WDN
RTD - Stephan Erasmus (AMA) 75 78 RTD
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER
