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ON THE MOVE . . . Scott Vicent has been making a steady rise on the Sunshine Tour’s leader board

Takudzwa Chitsiga Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S Scott Vincent has moved into the top 10 of the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit after his commendable fourth place finish at the BMW South Africa Open at Glendower Golf Club in Johannesburg, South Africa on Sunday.

Vincent is now the highest ranked local and is lying in ninth place, with earnings amounting to R921,350 in the 2017-18 season.

The former Chapman and Royal Harare professional pocketed R629 000 for his efforts at the BMW tournament and this took his career earnings to R 1 280 so far.

The 25-year-old golfer has managed to leapfrog seasoned campaigner Mark Williams, who finished 20th at the Sunshine Tour, European Tour co-sanctioned tournament.

Williams, who had a slow start, is now 34th overall, while his season’s earnings are so far pegged at R376 825.

For finishing at nine-under, Williams walked home R159 909 rich and this took his career earnings to R2,6 million.

Vincent and Williams are the only players in the top 100 as Ryan Cairns is on position 101, while Mohammad Mandhu, Benjamin Follet-Smith, Greg Bentley and Marc Cayeux made the cut in the top 150.

South Africans dominate the standings, with Dylan Frittelli leading the pack with total earnings of R2,7 million while Erik van Rooyen, Branden Grace, JC Ritchie and Oliver Bekker occupy the rest of the top five.

Vincent carded 70, 66, 71 and 67 to finish at 14-under following up his third place finish at the Indonesian Tour Open.

Zimbabwe’s top professional was tied with South Africans Jacques Kruyswijk and Jacques Blaauw.

Marc Cayeux was the only casualty as he missed the cut after carding nine-over after the first two qualifying rounds.

The tournament was won by England’s Chris Paisley after he carded a flawless final-round six-under-par 66.

The final round saw him taking a three-stroke victory over South African fan favourite Grace.

It looked likely that Grace was going to run away with the title after Paisley found his overnight one-shot lead erased as the South African started birdie-eagle to hit the front.

Paisley, who had his wife Keri on his bag, had made birdie on two in a solid start and found himself trailing.