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Da Silva survives back nine jitters to clinch NMB Classic

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Brazilian golfer Adilson da Silva led from wire to wire to clinch the Nelson Mandela Bay Classic title in his maiden appearance on the Sunshine Senior Tour but not before a few heart palpitations on the back nine at Humewood in Gqeberha on Friday.

The overnight leader by five shots, an advantage he still had at the halfway mark on Friday, eventually shaded Keith Horne by one shot as he faltered with a 41 on the back nine, which included three bogeys and a double bogey on the final hole.

In fact, Horne delivered a supreme effort on the 18th when he came within a whisker of holing his chip from just off the green for a birdie. The ball scraped past the edge of the hole and he had to settle for a par, which left him two shots adrift of Da Silva, who still had his bogey putt.

When the Brazilian missed that, it cut his lead to one shot, leaving Horne to again ponder what might have been after he was shaded by a similar margin in the 2022 tournament by Doug McGuigan.

Da Silva finished with a 74 for an overall total of 10-under 206, with McGuigan two shots off the pace.

After Horne’s third hole bogey was followed by three birdies on the front nine, he was solid on the back nine but could not do anything special and delivered nine straight pars for his round of 70.

McGuigan, along with James Kingston, delivered the low round of the day as he finished with a 69 to end on eight-under 208.

The final day at the links course was marked by a complete turnaround in the weather just after the midway mark. After a benign 12 holes in calm, overcast conditions, the southerly wind sprang up and blew in some heavy rain to offer the players a brutal finish.

In fact, the greens became so waterlogged at one stage that the final group were called off on the 16th hole and there was a delay until the weather eased somewhat and they were able to complete the round.

After his closing 74 Da Silva was delighted to take the NMB Classic at his first attempt, but realised he was put through the wringer as Horne and McGuigan kept up the pressure in the testing conditions.

“When you get a lead like that, sometimes you can lose your way and try to play the other guy’s game – you have to learn the hard way,” Da Silva said.

“At the start I was focused on what I needed to do, but towards the end it did become very difficult for me when the temperature dropped.

“One thing I do struggle with is when it gets cold and I can’t feel my hands on the club, so I ended up putting a lot of pressure on myself and my head was everywhere for a while.”

The final outcome, he added, was a memorable moment in his career.

“Absolutely very special to win here,” Da Silva said. “It was a tough week because a lot of the top players were here, so I knew I would have to play well.

“And with Keith and Doug on my tail all morning, those guys never back off so it was very tough in the end.

“But I’m really happy to scrape in and they say sometimes you have to win ugly – well, this one was super ugly, but I’m still happy with that.”

Leading scores

206 – Adilson da Silva 63 69 74
207 – Keith Horne 70 67 70
208 – Doug McGuigan 68 71 69
212 – James Kingston 67 76 69
213 – Gregg Upton 66 76 71, Chris Williams 68 73 72
216 – Callie Swart 70 76 70, Wallie Coetsee 73 70 73
217 – Grant Muller 67 76 74

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Port Elizabethan

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