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BRYCE Easton overturned the 73 he signed for in the third round of the Zimbabwe Open in spectacular fashion when he shot an unblemished nine-under-par 63 final round to equal the course record and claim victory at the Royal Harare Golf Club yesterday.

He finished the third round with a double-bogey on 17 and a bogey on 18 in round three and admitted that he was quite gutted by his display which left him six shots behind the leading JC Ritchie. However, in the final round, Easton came out guns blazing, opening his final round with three birdies on the trot before a par halted him on the fourth.

Four holes later he was seven-under-par, with birdies on the fifth, the sixth, a par on the seventh, another birdie on eight and a par to turn in 30. By this time, it was clear that he would either take the round to a play-off with a few other players who included Ritchie who led for the entire week.

“I felt like I played well for most of the week, even yesterday,” he said, “but, yesterday was a little off. I just finished poorly. But, I went out there with a different mindset and maybe that helped me, being a little bit behind going out today.”

He admits, however, that he didn’t have a problem chasing the leaders, and not being the one being chased. “It is a different ball game when you’re in front because you get the attention from the get-go,” he said, “maybe, being a few behind the pace was what I needed to do.”

On the homeward stretch, Easton needed to be calm to be able to protect the gains he had made, but he also knew he needed to make more gains to pull clear of the group that occupied the first few spots on the leaderboard. He did so expertly, making a birdie on the 10th. He made two more birdies on holes 14 and 16 to get to nine-under 63 and remain within touching distance of claiming a third win on the Sunshine Tour.

“I gave myself chances,” Easton said, “You’ve got to roll in the putts, one, to shoot 63, and two to win a golf tournament, and I putted great today, and obviously I hit it well and gave myself chances but I knocked them in, which is the difference.”

Easton will now look forward to the next few events on the schedule with some confidence and will be happy to start the season right up there on the Order of Merit.

Scores
272 — Bryce Easton 69 67 73 63
273 — Daniel van Tonder 70 68 70 65
275 — Peter Karmis 71 68 67 69, Christiaan Basson 70 68 67 70
276 — Justin Harding 72 68 69 67, Steve Surry 70 71 66 69, JC Ritchie 66 66 71 73
277 — Jaco Ahlers 72 64 71 70
278 — Andrew Curlewis 70 71 69 68, Vaughn Groenewald 67 70 69 72, Tyrone Ferreira 70 71 64 73
279 — Oliver Bekker 71 69 75 64, Alex Haindl 68 70 73 68, Jonathan Agren 68 71 71 69, Jean Hugo 70 68 69 72
280 — Rourke van der Spuy 73 70 68 69, Chris Cannon 73 71 67 69, Ulrich van den Berg 70 68 70 72, Jack Harrison 70 68 69 73
281 — Martin Rohwer 67 72 72 70, Trevor Fisher Jnr 68 72 71 70, Fredrik From 71 70 70 70, Herman Loubser 72 69 68 72, Jake Roos 70 68 68 75
282 — Ryan Cairns 72 70 70 70, Callum Mowat 69 75 68 70, Titch Moore 71 73 68 70, Hennie Otto 70 70 70 72, Breyten Meyer 69 72 69 72, JJ Senekal 75 69 66 72
283 — Mark Williams 71 68 74 70, Jared Harvey 71 73 69 70, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 74 70 67 72, Andre De Decker 70 71 69 73, Louis de Jager 72 71 67 73, Rhys West 72 66 71 74
284 — Anthony Michael 72 71 72 69
285 — Robson Chinoi 72 68 72 73
286 — Luke Jerling 69 73 74 70, Wynand Dingle 71 72 71 72, MJ Viljoen 71 68 73 74, Doug McGuigan 72 68 72 74
287 — Teboho Sefatsa 71 70 72 74, Marc Cayeux 75 68 70 74, Trainos Muradzikwa 73 69 70 75
288 —Toto Thimba 73 70 73 72, Matthew Carvell 73 71 70 74, Aubrey Beckley 75 68 70 75, Combrinck Smit 72 71 70 75
289 — Anton Haig 72 67 81 69, Keenan Davidse 78 66 73 72, Jaco Prinsloo 71 73 73 72, Ockie Strydom 70 74 73 72, Andrew van der Knaap 67 72 76 74
290 — Jason Smith 71 73 69 77, N.J. Arnoldi 71 68 73 78, Pieter Moolman 70 72 69 79
291 — Duane Keun 74 70 73 74, Bennie van der Merwe 72 69 73 77, Franklin Manchest 72 71 71 77
294 — Damon Stephenson 75 69 71 79, Jacquin Hess 69 73 72 80
295 — David McIntyre 69 72 74 80
301 — Erhard Lambrechts 74 68 76 83. – Sport24