Jan 19 (Reuters) – South African Grant Veenstra
produced a brilliant escape from the rough at the last hole to
clinch top spot in British Open International Final Qualifying
(Africa) on Thursday.
The 28-year-old carded rounds of 71 and 67 at the 36-hole
event to qualify for the July 19-22 championship at Royal Lytham
along with compatriot Andrew Georgiou and Brazilian Adilson Da
Silva who both finished one shot off the pace on 139.
“On 16 I hit my poorest shot of the day, landed it right in
the water and made a double-bogey five,” Veenstra told reporters
at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington course.
“But then that shot on the 18th was my best this year. I hit
it from the long grass and landed it 25 feet from the pin.
“That was the best recovery I’ve made from the rough.”
The next British Open International Final Qualifying event
is the Asian version in Bangkok on March 1-2.
(Writing by Tony Jimenez, editing by John Mehaffey; To comment
on this story: sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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