The 22-year-old Tshwane golfer produced a four-birdie flurry at the end of the final round for a six-under-par 66 at Woodhill Country Club to finish at 19 under 197 – a magnificent five shots clear of  Zambian star Madalitso Muthiya.

‘I played so well today,’ said Lombard. ‘I hit all the right shots and made a lot of good decisions, which was really satisfying. It feels great to win again, especially ahead of the Eye of Africa PGA Championship. One of the most pleasing aspects of this week was getting myself into position and getting the job done. Hopefully I can take this form into next week and enjoy another positive result.’

Lombard opened with an eight under 64 at his home course for a one shot lead over Ockert Strydom.

He carded 67 in the second round and could have been forgiven for looking over his shoulder at a hungry chasing pack when started the final round with a two shot edge over Strydom and fellow Sunshine Tour campaigner Danie van Tonder.

On the final day, he stretched his advantage with an eagle-birdie combination at five and sixth and still had a firm hold on the reigns after a bogey at 12.

‘I had a fantastic day with the driver and the irons, but the putter let me down some,’ Lombard said. ‘I had seven lip-outs from 15 to 20 feet, but then the putts suddenly started to drop and I made four birdies down the straight.

‘I was really impressed with the cut, which fell at two over. It’s amazing to see how the standard on the IGT Challenge Tour has improved since I first started playing the tour as an amateur back in 2012.

‘I remember when the Sunshine Tour pros used to come and play, we would really pick up our games and try to catch them. It’s nice to give back now and I know guys like Danie and Ockie feel the same.

‘We need the game time, but we also put ourselves out there to give the amateurs a target to go for and it’s fantastic to see how they step up. This was just the kind of competitive experience I wanted and I’ll take some nice positive energy into the Eye of Africa next week.’

Muthiya, Van Tonder and Strydom will also take some confidence to the Eye of Africa Signature Course, while 19-year-old rookie Estiaan Conradie heads to the South African Stroke Play Championship next week knowing that he held his own against the Sunshine Tour players.

Muthiya fired a flawless 65 to finish third on 14 under, Van Tonder was two shots back after a 70 and Strydom, an 11-time winner on the country’s premier golf development circuit, tied for fourth at 11 under with Conradie, who won three times last season.

By Lali Stander

Final Result

All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as AMA.

197 – Zander Lombard 64 67 66

202 – Madalitso Muthiya (ZAM) 68 69 65

204 – Danie Van Tonder 68 66 70

205 – Estiaan Conradie 68 68 69, Ockert Strydom 65 69 71

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The local favourite extended his overnight lead with a five-under-par 67 at Woodhill Country Club to move 13 under, three clear of his nearest rivals.

Lombard began competing on the IGT Challenge Tour in 2012 and collected seven trophies as he cut his teeth on the country’s premier golf development circuit.

A blistering 64 in the opening round pushed him to the front of the field and Lombard set up a wire-to-wire chance at adding to his groaning mantle, but the 22-year-old will have to stave off fellow Sunshine Tour campaigners Strydom and Van Tonder on Wednesday.

‘I definitely expect Ockie and Danie to come out firing on Thursday,’ he said. ‘They are both experienced players and they have the same goal as me. We all want to finish in front and take some confidence from the IGT Challenge Tour into the Eye of Africa PGA Championship next week.

‘When you play in a three-ball like this, you push each other and it forces you to dig deeper and to push harder. I think it’s going to be a great battle. We can’t lose sight of the guys behind us, either. Anyone can catch fire tomorrow and push past us, so I’ll take it one hole at the time. Try to make the best score possible on every hole and hopefully I finish in front. It’s been a while since I won an Eagle Trophy, so I’m definitely going to fight till the last putt drops.’

Lombard erased a pair of bogeys with birdies at 11 and 14 and fired an eagle at the par-four 15th to turn 10 under.

Strydom collected a brace of birdies at 10 and 11 and added another pair at 14 and 15 to edge ahead of the overnight leader, while Van Tonder – four shots off the pace at the start of the round – got it to eight under with birdies at 11 and 15 and an eagle at the par-five 17th.

The lead changed hands again when Strydom dropped successive shots at the second and third, and Lombard birdied the short third.

He added two more birdies at four and five and parred the last four holes to retain the lead as Strydom rallied with gains at five and six. However, a bogey finish put paid to the Kempton Park player’s challenge and he signed for a 69 to finish at 10 under.

Van Tonder began his back nine with a bogey, but an eagle at the par five fifth and a birdie putt at the short seventh for a 66 landed the three-time Sunshine Tour winner with a share of second.

Pieter Kruger carded a 66 to move into fourth at nine-under, while Pretoria rookie Estiaan Conradie and MJ Viljoen share fifth at eight under after posting respective rounds of 68 and 66.

By Lali Stander

First Round Scores

All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as AMA.

131 – Zander Lombard 64 67

134 – Ockert Strydom 65 69, Danie van Tonder 68 66

135 – Pieter Kruger 69 66

136 – Estiaan Conradie 68 68, MJ Viljoen 70 66

137 – Madalitso Muthiya (ZAM) 68 69, Dylan Kok AMA 67 70

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On a day where 47 players broke par, the Woodhill golfer rocketed to the top of the pile with an eighth-under-par 64.

He leads by one stroke lead over Strydom from Kempton Park, who is hunting a record 12th title on the country’s premier golf development Tour.

Pretoria amateur Dylan Kok also showed some great form in the first round to grab a share of third at five under with Englishman Neil Cheetham, JC Ritchie and rookie Kyle Barker.

Lombard won a fistful of IGT Challenge Tour titles before he joined the paid ranks at the end of 2014 and the 22-year-old he pleased to discover the Race to Q-School series was coming to Woodhill ahead of the Sunshine Tour’s Eye of Africa PGA Championship.

‘We had four weeks off since the BMW SA Open, so the chance to get some game time before next week was great,’ he said.

‘Of course, it’s great that I just have to roll out of bed with a hard bounce and I’m on the first tee. I do have the advantage in that I know the course really well, but the standard of the Race to Q-School series is always really high.

‘At this stage of the game, with only five events left in the series, it gets really competitive out there as the guys vie for the five spots into the final stage of Q-School. So I knew teeing it up this morning that I would have to bring my A-game.’

Lombard stumbled out of the blocks, but recovered quickly and fired nine birdies at his home course.

His opening tee shot rolled up behind a tree and his only option was to chip out and limit the damage to a bogey, but a string of four birdies from the third saw him turn in three under and five more birdies – including a run of three at 15, 16 and 17 – pushed Lombard to the front of the field.

‘I was really solid tee to green,’ he said. ‘The irons worked well and the putter behaved, but I still let a few slip. Still, if they gave me a 64 this morning, I would have taken it and gone back to bed.

‘It’s been really great to come back to the IGT Challenge Tour. I knew the course would test us, because they always push up the degree of difficulty to challenge the guys heading to Q-School. The tees were pushed back and there was a lot of tucked pins, and it was just really nice to dig in and get that rust off with a good competitive round.’

By Lali Stander

First Round Scores

All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as AMA.

64 – Zander Lombard

65 – Ockert Strydom

67 – Neil Cheetham (ENG), Kyle Barker, JC Ritchie, Dylan Kok AMA

68 – Ruan Botha AMA, Clinton Cheia, Jaco Prinsloo, Danie Van Tonder, Tyrone Ryan, Jonathan Waschefort, Estiaan Conradie, Madalitso Muthiya (ZAM), NJ Arnoldi

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