RISING Zimbabwe golf star Kieran Vincent carded a closing level-par 72 in the final round of the FBC Zimbabwe Open to finish in a two-way tie for sixth position at Royal Harare Golf Club yesterday.
Although he was unable to challenge for the coveted title, Kieran, who has been following in the spike marks of his brother Scott over the last couple of years, put on a decent show by securing a credible top-10 finish.
Despite admittedly not playing his best golf during the FBC Zimbabwe Open, the 25-year-old recent winner on the Asian Tour still managed to card solid rounds of 72, 71, 70 and 72 for a tournament total of three-under-par 285.
Vincent had an impressive start to his final round as he sank four birdies against one bogey on the front nine to move to five-under-par and in contention for a runner-up finish.
The 25-year-old Liberty University graduate, however, struggled on the back nine, where his brilliant eagle on the par-five 16th was overshadowed by five bogeys.
Vincent was eight shots behind the eventual winner Neil Schietekat, who finished top of the leaderboard on 11 under par 277.
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“I think at the end of the day we went out there and did what we needed to do. We came out here and put on a good show and gave ourselves an opportunity down the stretch and do something,” said Vincent after his round.
“In terms of the score, it was not what I wanted but at the end of the day, I’m happy with how things went. I was improving throughout the whole week. When I started on Thursday, I said I had my C game and over the last couple of days we have been working on that B game.”
Vincent, who will now head to the US to join his brother who is playing on the LIV Golf circuit this week said he was pleased with his improvement with each round.
“Definitely some improvement there, the score might not reflect that, but I definitely felt I was doing a little bit better towards the end it was good to be out here, the Zimbabwe Open is obviously a fun tournament for me it’s good to do this, it’s been like seven years since I last played here,” he said.
Nyanga-born Biggie Chibvuri, who has over the last few years been playing on the West African Tour was the second highest-placed Zimbabwean golfer on the leaderboard in a tie for 18 on level par.
Robson Chinhoi, who was popular with the fans throughout the week was unable to build on his 68 on Saturday after carding a disappointing 78 to finish solo 24th on two-over-par.