The buffalo continues its stampede. Daniel Van Tonder (-27) has been in a hurry to return to the DP World Tour and has won again in the second division. He has claimed victory with authority and apparent ease at the MyGolfLife Open hosted by Pecanwood, the second event of the HotelPlanner Tour season. From start to finish. He led from the first day and not only never relinquished that position of privilege, but he didn’t even share it. Fabulous.
In case there was any doubt or someone thought of attacking from behind on Sunday, Van Tonder started the final round with three birdies in the first five holes. In this way, he kept the insurgents at bay and shortly after, with two more birdies on the 11th and 12th, he put an end to the story. Undisputed victory. Two tournaments and two wins. He is one away from a direct promotion to the DP World Tour. Last year, two players achieved it: Rasmus Neergaard Petersen and John Parry, but both had to wait until the latter part of the season to achieve it. Van Tonder now has 26 tournaments ahead to achieve it. The first of them will be next week in South Africa. He will play, in case you had any doubts.
Van Tonder won by two strokes over Martin Vorster (-25), the only one who more or less managed to unsettle him, although at no point did it really seem like he could snatch the crown, and three over Australian Danny List (-24). Keep an eye on Irishman Liam Nolan (-21). He finished in fourth place, started the season without the HotelPlanner Tour card, and has already achieved two consecutive top 10s. He will play again in South Africa next week.
Van Tonder gallops in the new Challenge Tour season, while Albert Boneta (-18) goes step by step. He closed his tournament at Pecanwood with a scorecard of 69 strokes. Not bad at all, but he fell short on birdie day in South Africa. The average score was 67.89 strokes, so the Spaniard lost ground. He didn’t manage to finish in the top 10, ending up in 13th place, but he continues to grow. He improved his result compared to last week and is now 13th in the Race to Mallorca. The top 20 will earn the DP World Tour card at the end of the season. Lucas Vacarisas is also in the top 20.
Boneta started the day better than on previous days, with a birdie on the 1st hole, but struggled to get the birdie machine going. He bogeyed the 3rd, made two more birdies on the 4th and 5th, but came to a halt with a bogey on the 7th, a par 5. From there, he finished with two more birdies on the 12th and 14th. It is only his fifth Challenge Tour tournament, and he is proving more than well-prepared for the professional world.
The other two Spaniards who made the cut, Víctor Pastor (-13) and Borja Virto (-13), finished with very good rounds of 66 and 65 strokes, respectively. However, such was the festival of red numbers in Pretoria that they could only advance 9 and 17 positions to finish tied in 44th place.
