Birthday, hole-in-one, shooting the lights out ... all in a week’s work for JC Ritchie

Durban - JC Ritchie won the Jonsson Workwear Open at Durban Country Club on Sunday to claim back-to-back victories on the Sunshine Tour and Challenge Tour, and take another bold step towards his goal of playing on the DP World Tour.

On a far more windy day at Durban Country Club, Ritchie withstood a strong charge from Belgium’s Christopher Mivis and signed for a final round of 71 to win by six shots on 26 under par.

“I don’t have the words for this. This week has been unbelievable. I had a hole-in-one, set a course record, had my birthday, broke my lowest score twice, and then won the tournament. I’ve never dreamt of this. This is special,” said a delighted Ritchie, who also won last week’s Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open.

The Johannesburg golfer went into the final round with a 10-shot lead and having set a 54-hole scoring record on the Challenge Tour of 25 under par. But on a more tricky final day that changed the nature of this golf course, his lead was whittled down to two shots with five holes remaining as Mivis took up the challenge that was offered to the rest of the field.

As Ritchie came through 13 holes at one over for the day, Mivis was eight under through 15 holes. The Belgian made four birdies in five holes over the turn, bogeyed the 12th, and then birdied the 13th, eagled the 14th and birdied the 15th to suddenly have Ritchie in sight for the first time this week.

He won last week , he wins again this week