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Takudzwa Chitsiga
Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWEAN professional golfer Benjamin Follett-Smith was crowned the D+D Real Czech Challenge champion at Royal Beroun Golf Club to boost his chances of promotion to the DP World Tour.
The Royal-Harare Club golfer secured a dominant five-stroke victory on Sunday.
Follet-Smith, led by two shots overnight, extended that lead thanks to a six-under-par round of 64 on the final day to reach 28-under par for the week and finished five shots clear of Frenchman Maxence Giboudot and Finn Oliver Lindell who shared second.
Resultantly, Follett-Smith catapults 46 places up to 26th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings with three events of the season remaining.
The 30-year-old would earn graduation to golf’s Global Tour should he finish inside the top 20 on the Rankings at the end of the year.
He was naturally was delighted to move into promotion contention following a stellar week in Beroun.
“The feeling is unreal,” he said.
“Every time you win, it’s such an incredible feeling. It makes every bit of practice and bad round of golf worth it.
“You play week-in-week-out during the season, trying to get a win or a second place to guarantee your place in the Rolex Grand Final.
“Being in this position now and being able to play the two events in China and having a really good chance again of getting my DP World Tour card has taken a huge amount of pressure off.
“Right now, all I want to do is get onto the DP World Tour.”
Follett-Smith, who has cut a relaxed figure all week, made four birdies with just one bogey on his front nine to extend his lead to three before adding three more on the way home to make sure of a second Challenge Tour title, having claimed a first at the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open in 2023.
“My golf was pretty close to perfect. I played well the whole week, and overall, it’s been immaculate.
“Coming from my past wins, I was always leading by one or two going into the last two days and I always think if someone is going to go for it, let them go for it and don’t let it affect you.
“I just stuck with what I needed to do. I played conservative golf today, just hitting the middle of the green.
“Sometimes it doesn’t work out but I’m so grateful that it has here.”
Englishman Sam Hutsby finished in solo fourth on 22 under par, with Dane Jonathan Gøth-Rasmussen and English-man James Allen — who carded a joint low round of the week nine under par 61 — sharing fifth on 21 under par.
The top-eight places in the Road to Mallorca Rankings remain the same with Englishman John Parry retaining his place as Number One.
Lindell’s second-place finish sees him climb to eighth with Hutsby moving inside the promotion places to 18th after his fourth-place finish.
The Road to Mallorca heads to China now for back-to-back weeks, starting with the Hainan Open which takes place at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club from October 10-13, 2024.
Online Reporter