Jamie Rutherford (-14) is the champion of the Cell C Cape Town Open in association with Honor. The English player has opened his record at the age of 32 on the HotelPlanner Tour.
On the other side of the coin, the third victory for Borja Virto (-8) will have to wait, although the haul for the Armada has been more than positive. Three Spanish players have finished among the top eleven at Royal Cape Golf Club. Lucas Vacarisas (-9) finished sixth tied with four other players. Borja Virto and Quim Vidal (-8) close the week in eleventh place.
The Navarrese started at the top of the leaderboard, but a day filled with wind and bad sensations complicated the victory from the start. Four bogeys in the first six holes made it very difficult to recover the path to victory. Two birdies slightly minimized the fall, but a bogey on the last hole of the day prevented him from finishing the tournament in what would have been a well-deserved top ten. Ten seasons later, victory still eludes him, but with weeks like this, Virto will fight for glory sooner rather than later.
Rutherford started alongside Borja at the top of the table. With 36 players within just five strokes before the day began, it felt like the potential champion would have to fly very low. It wasn’t the case, as the wind didn’t allow it either. Rutherford, with a round of 69 strokes, claimed the glory.
The Briton started the first round very solidly with three birdies in the first half of the course. None of the other three who started at the top were able to play under par, and at no point was his victory in danger, even though South African Keenan Davidse pushed from behind with the best round of the day to finish second.
Lucas Vacarisas started this Sunday four strokes off the lead, the victory seemed difficult, but with a more than positive round of 70 strokes, he broke into the top ten, the second of the season and the sixth of his career on the tour. The Catalan player is undoubtedly one of the great Spanish hopes to secure one of the twenty DP World Tour cards, and the start of the season reaffirms him in that position.
The positive ‘surprise’ of the day was provided by Quim Vidal. The 25-year-old golfer delivered a card of 68 strokes, the second-best of the day, and finished tied with Borja Virto. Two eleventh places with very different flavours.
Who lost ground this Sunday was Adri Arnaus, who faltered on the 1st tee with chances to fight for victory and finished with a round of 75 strokes in 28th place.
As a final note, Daniel Van Tonder (-9) couldn’t secure his third consecutive victory on the tour, but he finished among the top ten of the event, proving he is the most in-form player on the tour. The tour doesn’t rest and will play, starting next Thursday, the fourth and final tournament of this South African swing at the start of the season. The NTT Data Pro Am will be the grand finale.
