ST FRANCIS BAY (Eastern Cape) – America’s Jordan Gumberg claimed a thrilling victory in the SDC Championship at St Francis Links on Sunday when he beat South Africa’s Robin ‘Tiger’ Williams with a birdie at the second playoff hole.
Gumberg and Williams finished regulation play tied for the lead on 12 under par following their respective final rounds of 68 and 69.
On a day when the wind of the previous three days gave way to rain, local hero Williams had seemed destined to claim the victory as he held a two-shot lead over the Florida-born American with just two holes to play.
However, the golfer named in honour of Tiger Woods, found the greenside bunker on the par-three 17th and made a double bogey from a plugged lie to slip back into a tie for the lead with Gumberg.
They both parred the par-four 18th as the first playoff hole and with the Challenge Tour graduate Gumberg, who had come to prominence last May in qualifying at Walton Heath for the US Open, then birdied the hole on the second attempt to claim his maiden DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour title.
“I’m so thankful to be standing here,” said Gumberg at the end of a dramatic final round.
“Coming down the last couple of holes there is always a point where it feels like it’s slipped away from you. It felt like that for me. So I’m just thankful to be standing here.”
Frenchman David Ravetto took third place on 10 under par with a final round of 70.
The win changes Gumberg’s plans significantly. Before this he was a European Challenge Tour golfer unable to plan his schedule.
“It means everything. I never really got this far in my dreams. It’s what we work so hard for every single day. To my family back home – my dad has put so much into my golf game. It means the world to all of us,” he said while holding back the tears.
Special thanks to Michael Vlismas
