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Takudzwa Chitsiga Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWEAN professional golfer Stuart Krog finished second at the R2000 000 FNB Eswatini Nkonyeni Challenge at Nkonyeni Lodge and Golf Club in Eswatini at the weekend.
Krog managed to complement his opening first round of five-under-par with a one-under 71 and three under-par to take his total to nine-under 207, and finished behind eventual winner, South African Peter Karmis.
However, Krog suffered a costly double-bogey on the par-four 16th hole.
Karmis had not won on the Sunshine Tour since August 2018, but the 42-year-old showed he still has the bottle for it on Saturday as he clinched a thrilling one-stroke victory over the Zimbabwean.
Karmis fired a two-under-par 70 in Saturday’s final round to finish on 10-under-par overall, edging out Krog (69) on nine-under for his seventh Sunshine Tour title.
Matthew Spacey, who enjoyed a four-stroke lead going into the last day, stumbled to a 76 on Saturday and ended up sharing third place on eight-under-par with Louis Albertse (67), last week’s winner CJ du Plessis (68) and Ruan Korb (69).
Although Karmis started brilliantly with a birdie on the par-four first hole, and gained two more shots on the seventh and eighth holes to reach the turn on three-under, he endured a roller-coaster back nine that saw him sandwich a birdie on the par-five 13th hole with bogeys on the 11th and 15th holes.
Karmis showed his mettle, however, by finishing with three straight pars.
Online Reporter