Van Tonder wins 3-man playoff in South Africa
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mbabane, South Africa (SportsNetwork.com) - Danie van Tonder birdied the first playoff hole on Saturday to defeat Jacques Blaauw and Jared Harvey at the Investec Royal Swazi Open.
Van Tonder recorded nine birdies during a bogey-free final round at Royal Swazi Sun Country Club to collect 18 points and meet Blaauw and Harvey atop the leaderboard at 48 total points.
Harvey countered a pair of bogeys with nine birdies to earn 16 points, while Blaauw had seven birdies and two bogeys for 12 points during his final round.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The tournament used a modified stableford scoring system that awarded eight points for an albatross, five for an eagle and two for a birdie. One point was deducted for a bogey and three were deducted for a double-bogey or worse.
The players returned to the 18th hole for the playoff, where van Tonder stuck his approach to eight feet of the hole and converted his birdie effort to claim his first career win on the Sunshine Tour.
Ross Wellington (11) finished in fourth place at 45 points, while third-round leader Haydn Porteous managed just three points during his final round to fall into fifth at 44 points.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jaco Ahlers (4) ended in sixth at 42 points, Trevor Fisher, Jr. (9) took seventh at 41 points and Le Roux Ferreira (11) captured eighth at 40 points.