GOLF NEWS - While the Sunshine Tour’s Tour Championship, which tees off on Thursday at Serengeti Estates this week, is shaping up to be something of a victory lap for Zander Lombard, there’s more at stake than simply confirming his status as the 2018-19 Order of Merit winner.
He has a nearly R640,000 advantage over his nearest rival, Justin Harding, and with Harding opting to rest up ahead of the crucial World Golf Championship-Dell Technologies Match Play in Texas next week, Lombard certainly can’t be caught by the man in third, Bryce Easton.
With the winner of the Tour Championship taking home R240,000 of the R1.5-million purse, Lombard will certainly be presented with the Sid Brews Trophy for winning the Order of Merit when the tournament ends. “It will sink in on Sunday when I actually get the trophy,” he said. “It’s something I’ve been working towards for a long time and it’s nice to get rewarded.”
Of course, there is the small matter of the tournament that he’d like to win, too. “You still want to win every time you tee it up,” he said. “I’m definitely going to focus out there, but whatever happens, it’s been an awesome season on the Sunshine Tour.”
His own game is in pretty good shape, as well, as he finds himself in 41st spot on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai rankings with a share of third at December’s Alfred Dunhill Championship the highlight of his season record.
“I’m hitting the ball really well,” he said. “I just need to put some finishing touches on my game, because the course is quite tricky out there. There are a lot of slopes on the greens, and there’s a lot of rough, so I think tidying up will be tricky this week.”
