Mexican professional Luis Carrera claimed his first title on the Sunshine Tour in his first start after winning the Qualifying School when he took the FBC Zim Open by four strokes at Royal Harare Golf Club.
Carrera won the Sunshine Tour’s 2025/26 season opening tournament on 18 under par with a final round of 68.
Australia’s Austin Bautista, who also earned his Sunshine Tour playing privileges at April’s Qualifying School, finished second on 14 under par with a closing 71.
Sweden’s Fredrik From and South Africa’s MJ Viljoen shared third place on nine under par.
Carrera took the overall lead after Fridays second round and never looked back. The Mexican started Sunday’s final round with a one-stroke lead over Bautista.
He started strong and was three under through his opening three holes following a birdie and an eagle.
But his bogey on the par-three 11th hole left him with only a one-stroke lead over Bautista.
The two golfers were level after Bautista’s birdie on the 12th hole, and then Carrera sealed the victory with three birdies in his final five holes.
Trevor Fisher Jnr. finished fifth on eight under par, maintaining his impressive record in a tournament where he has twice finished second in a playoff.
SCORES:
270 – Luis Carrera 67 66 69 68
274 – Austin Bautista 67 70 66 71
279 – Fredrik From 70 70 69 70, MJ Viljoen 68 66 70 75
280 – Trevor Fisher Jnr 69 70 68 73
281 – Jean Hugo 70 68 73 70
282 – Kyle De Beer 71 73 71 67, Robson Chinhoi 71 68 72 71, Samuel Simpson 71 69 70 72, Hennie Otto 66 71 70 75
283 – Malcolm Mitchell 72 69 75 67, Jaco Prinsloo 70 71 71 71, Martin Rohwer 72 65 72 74
284 – Heinrich Bruiners 70 72 72 70, Dylan Mostert 69 74 71 70, Hennie O’Kennedy 74 67 72 71, Ricky Hendler 70 74 68 72
285 – Kyle McClatchie 70 72 74 69, Stefan Wears-Taylor 72 70 69 74
286 – Rhys West 70 72 77 67, Ruan Korb 73 69 76 68, Jacques P de Villiers 76 69 72 69, Kyle Barker 70 73 72 71, Stuart Krog 75 69 71 71, Doug McGuigan 67 73 74 72, Stals Swart 71 72 71 72, Simon du Plooy 73 67 73 73
287 – Oliver Bekker 71 70 76 70, Graham van der Merwe 75 70 72 70, Jake Redman 71 72 72 72, Quintin Wilsnach 73 72 69 73, JJ Senekal 70 72 71 74, Tyran Snyders 74 71 68 74
288 – Warwick Purchase 68 72 78 70, Mikkel Antonsen 72 73 73 70, Jaco Van Zyl 70 72 75 71, Herman Loubser 75 68 72 73, Jacques Blaauw 69 73 71 75
289 – Luke Brown 75 69 76 69, Shaahid Mahmed 73 71 75 70, Luke Jerling 73 72 74 70, Neil Schietekat 74 71 74 70, Matthew Spacey 72 69 77 71, Tonderai Masunga 75 70 71 73, Tristen Strydom 74 69 72 74, Visitor Mapwanya 71 71 72 75, Lyle Rowe 71 71 72 75, Ruan Conradie 71 69 73 76
290 – Gerhard Pepler 73 71 77 69, Brandon Meads 69 73 77 71, Rupert Kaminski 71 72 73 74
291 – Estiaan Conradie 73 69 74 75
292 – Christiaan Burke 70 75 74 73, Nyasha Muyambo 70 73 73 76
293 – Ryan Cairns 70 73 77 73, Pierre Viallaneix 75 70 74 74
294 – Christiaan Basson 68 76 75 75
295 – Joe Knox 73 71 79 72, Tyrone Ryan 67 77 78 73, David Meyers 70 74 75 76
296 – Jack Hawksby 72 73 77 74, Keegan Mclachlan 72 73 77 74
301 – Werner Deyzel 72 71 81 77
RTD – Dayne Moore 74 70 78 RTD
Issued by Michael Vlismas Media
