In-form JC Ritchie seals back-to-back title wins in 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 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 Ritchie, who also won last week's Cape Town Open.

Ritchie went into the final round with a 10-shot lead, 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.

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 have Ritchie insight for the first time this week.

"I had no idea what was going on until we finished playing the 14th hole. That's when my girlfriend Sarah came up to me and asked if I'd like to know the scores and I said, 'Yes'. I was surprised. But I never felt like I was in trouble," said Ritchie.

"I always knew somebody was going to shoot maybe seven under par, and that would still be three short of where I was. I was hitting the ball well enough to not shoot over par.

"I was a bit nervous, but once I settled