Sunshine Tour - Vodacom Origins of Golf - St Francis Links

Alex Haindl underlined his 2018 consistency on the Sunshine Tour on Saturday with a come-from-behind one-stroke victory in the Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament at St Francis Links.

He carded a final-round of five-under-par 67 to finish on 12-under for the 54-hole tournament, just ahead of 36-hole leader Neil Schietekat, having started four shots back. Schietekat shared second place with Jake Roos.

“This is a golf course I’ve always wanted to win on, so this is a little bit more special,” said Haindl. “I played nicely the whole week, and I’ve been playing quite well the whole season, so it’s good to get a win in.”

The victory caps a year in which he has already finished inside the top 10 six times, including in a share of second at the season-opening Zanaco Masters in Zambia in April, and in last month’s Sun City Challenge.

“The win proves to me that I am working on the right things and my game is moving in the right direction,” said the player who perhaps works harder on his game than just about anyone on tour. “I just need to keep on going in that direction. That’s the important thing.”

His victory started looking likely during his front nine during which he made four birdies in a row from the fourth to the seventh. Birdies on 12 and 13 took him three shots clear of the chasing pack at that stage, and he seemed set to cruise home.

However, he missed two short birdie chances in 16 and 17, and then dumped his approach to 18 in a green-side bunker and was unable to get up and down for a closing par.

“I started kind of slowly,” he said. “I kept giving myself chances and missing putts, and I ended up obviously making a few. I missed a two-footer for birdie on eight which hurt a bit. But I kept going and gave myself chances.

Japan Golf Tour - Top Cup Tokai Classic

Angelo Que won the Top Cup Tokai Classic moving from 449 to World No.258.

Asian Tour - Mercuries Taiwan Masters

Adilson Da Silva of Brazil claimed a long-awaited victory on the Asian Tour after closing with a third consecutive two-under-par 70 to win by one shot at the storied Mercuries Taiwan Masters on Sunday.

The 46-year-old Da Silva, who held a one-shot lead heading into the final round, fired three birdies on the third, seventh and 13th holes before dropping a shot on the last for a winning total of seven-under-par 281 in the US$850,000 event.

Da Silva, who started playing on Tour after coming through the Qualifying School in 2011, earned a career-biggest prize purse of US$170,000 thanks to his victory. He also became the first Brazilian to win on the region’s premier Tour since it was inaugurated in 2004.

Local hero Lin Wen-tang signed for a 70 to share second place with American Berry Henson, who posted a 69, at the fabled Taiwan Golf and Country Club, which is celebrating its centennial year in 2018.

Qualifying school graduate Heungchol Joo of Korea marked his best result so far this season after battling to a 72 to sit in fourth place alongside South African Justin Harding, who closed with a 72, in what is the longest running full-field event on the Asian Tour.

Despite missing out on his third win of the season, Harding took pride in his commendable result which moved him up two spots to sixth place on the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings, led by India’s Shubhankar Sharma, who finished in tied-42nd place.

PGA Tour Series China - Macau Championship

New Zealand’s Nick Voke closed with a 5-under-66, good for a two-stroke win at the first PGA TOUR Series-China event at the Macau Championship.

Voke’s triumph comes three weeks after his first Tour title, at the Qinhuangdao Championship and he is the first player to win back-to-back tournaments since China’s Zecheng Dou achieved the feat in 2016.

Playing in the second-to-last group Sunday, the 23-year-old Voke picked up four shots in the last six holes at Caesars Golf Club to finish 15-under and secure the RMB 270,000 winner’s check. That was enough to vault him to third on the Order of Merit, with RMB 602,000. It’s been a remarkable run for Voke, who was only playing his third tournament of the season and is now poised to earn his 2019 Web.com Tour membership.

American Trevor Sluman shot a Sunday 67 to secure the runner-up position, at 13-under, while China’s Yechun “Carl” Yuan, Americans Ryann Ree and Jeffrey Kang, South Korea’s Luke Kwon and Japan’s Yuwa Kosaihira all tied for third.

Voke earned a top-five in his Tour debut at the Suzhou Open in early September (tied for fourth) and picked up his first win the following week. He also added a third-place finish at an Asian Tour event in South Korea. Last week, Voke practiced in Thailand before coming here, where he continued his remarkable, recent run.

The Kiwi started the final day three shots behind co-leaders Joseph Winslow and Todd Baek and made three birdies and two pars on the front nine before gathering steam as the tournament drew to a close. He birdied Nos. 13 and 15 and added his eagle on 17.

“It was a big day out there. On the front nine, I didn’t quite have it. I was hitting some below-average approach shots. Fortunately, I hit it really close on No. 9 and made the turn at 1-under, and I really wanted to get some momentum on the back nine,” said Voke, who was tied for the lead before his eagle gave him a two-stroke buffer.

ProGolf Tour - Castanea Resort Championship

Jonas Kobling won the ProGolf Tour season ending tournament the Castanea Resort Championship moving from 858 to World No.663.

Jonas Kölbing moved up to second place in the overall PGT rankings, followed by Frenchman Mathieu Decottignies Lafon, Scot Chris Robb and Pole Mateusz Gradecki,

Scotsman Craig Howie is the overall champion of the 2018 Pro Golf Tour.

The professional from Edinburgh finished the season with 23.481,21 points in the rankings what makes him No. 1 of the final Pro Golf Tour Order of Merit. Whilst Howie was successfully defended his pole position at the last tournament of the year in Adendorf in Germany his persecutors had a hard battle for the other four spots that promote to the 2019 European Challenge Tour.

Nordic Golf League - Ekerum Öland Masters

Marcus Helligkilde won the Nordic Golf League’s Ekerum Öland Masters, moving from 1030 TO World No. 738.