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| Lane Cove Country club provided a glorious setting to the opening tournament |
Despite being down by three points with five holes to go, Malloch unleashed a scintillating final few holes to tie the game with one hole to spare.
With everything on the line, the final hole fizzled for spectators as Anthony Sandrejko, who had been mired in mediocrity all morning thanks to a significant overnight drinking session, produced his best effort of the day to win the hole.
For Jago it was another case of ‘what might have been’ as he squandered a solid lead for the second tournament in a row.
Rod Jago teeing off on hole 13
"I don’t know what happened. I was playing well and just… I…” said Jago who broke down at the post-tournament press conference appearing visibly shaken.
“I want to say sorry to my fans. I know they expect better of me,” he concluded before being whisked away in a black Mercedes by an unnamed man.
Malloch, on the other hand, was all smiles, despite having to mount a comeback again.
“I need to capitalise better. I started well but in the middle holes I was playing like a Crowhurst. I realised on hole 14 though that I couldn’t let this happen; I simply could not let Jago win,” he said.
The 14th hole was, without a doubt, the turning point of the match. Malloch hacked a drive out of bounds and was on the verge of giving up. However, upon realising he had his back 9 mulligan still to use, Malloch changed his style from aggressive to tactical.
“All day I’d been trying to play aggressive, using my driver whenever I could. I finally realised consistency was the key, so I put my driver away and it paid dividends.”
Malloch proceeded to win three of the next four holes playing a form of golf normally seen on the PGA Tour with three pars and a bogey. His approach shot on hole 17 was close to the shot of the tournament.
Looking ahead to the next tournament at Wakehurst Golf Club, Malloch was confident.
“I’ve got the momentum. Jago fell away. Surely he’s got to be questioning his ability on the golf course.”
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| Jago was confident at the start of the day |
Sandrejko said he was also looking forward to the next tournament.
“I think I’ll drink less before round two, but I’m looking forward to Jago choking again. It’s high comedy,” he said.
Round two of the Sefiani Invitational is on Sunday, 4 March at Wakehurst Golf Club.
NOTES
* Tom Hann, the controversial Account Executive, was unable to participate due to a motor vehicle accident on the way to the course where he crashed into a stationary vehicle. He is listed as ‘questionable’ for round two *
LEADERBOARD
Dylan Malloch 9pts
Rod Jago 9pts
Anthony Sandrejko 6pts
Tom Hann 4pts
If it weren't for my sportmanship of REMINDING Malloch (noticed you left that out) of his mulligan after he shanked his drive into someone's backyard I probably would have won despite my shaky final few holes.
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember me finding your ball on no less than three occasions Yago - every time just as you were about to give up and take a penalty drop.
ReplyDeleteSo keep your humblebrags to yourself thanks, champ.