SOUTH African golfer Michael Hollick shot a final round 5 — under par 67 to lift the 2024 edition of the FBC Zimbabwe Open on an overall 20 — under par 201 score at Royal Harare Golf Club yesterday.
After going into the final day with a one stroke lead over 2001 winner Darren Fichardt, Hollick made six birdies and a bogey to claim a two shot victory over Fichardt who carded 68 in the final round comprising six birdies and two bogeys.
Hollick was consistent from the first day of the US$200 000 sponsored four-day tournament and carded 66 67 and 68 in the first three rounds.
The golfer who turns 37 on Wednesday becomes the 12th South African to win the competition in 12 attempts since the tournament was reintroduced in 2010.
“I played here for the first time in 2011 and I am pleased to win the Zimbabwe Open this time around. It was great to compete with Darren Fichardt. I have been lucky enough to play a lot of golf tournaments with Darren over the years and he is a hell of a player. I knew he was not going to give it to me today. I had to go out and win it. Fortunately I had the goods, I produced in the end,” Hollick said after his triumph.
Fichardt failed to make it a perfect double in the tournament after he won the event at Chapman Golf Club 23 years ago and was keen to win at Royal Harare but fell short after a spirited effort over the four-day event where he managed rounds of 67 66 69 and 68.
Zimbabwean golfer Scott Vincent shot a calculated bogey free final round of 68 including three birdies but it was not enough to win the country’s premier golf tournament as he settled for third place on overall 14 — under, six strokes behind the winner.
Scott Vincent had a difficult second round in which he shot 73 after starting off the competition with 67 before a brilliant 6 — under par 66 brought him back into contention for the tournament on day three.
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“I am happy with my performance over the last four days. It’s been a wonderful week and it's great to see so many Zimbabweans come to support golf. We had a great week, we learnt a lot and it’s fun to play in front of your home crowd. The result wasn’t what I think everybody wanted but from my own perspective I think it was a great week and I played really well,” Scott Vincent said.
A very good tournament for Zimbabwe saw three golfers make into the top six with Scott’s brother Vincent struggling in the final round where he carded 71 made up of three bogeys and four birdies to finish tied for fourth place along with Swedish golfer Fredrick From on overall 12 — under par 205.
Kieran, who plays in the LIV Golf league along with his older brother Scott, shot 71 67 67 and 71 to improve on his finish last year where he tied for 6th place on overall 3 — under.
Another Zimbabwean Ben Follett-Smith achieved his best ever finish at the flagship golf event after carding 71 in the final round for a 11 — under total, tied in sixth place with South African MJ Viljoen.
Follett-Smith shot the best score of round three a 7 — under par 65 to go into the final day in fifth place five strokes behind the leader on 10 — under.
A total of 144 golfers took part in the competition and nine Zimbabweans managed to make the cut.
