JC Ritchie did it before he won the Zimbabwe Open on Sunday and now Anton Haig hopes a timely return to the IGT Challenge Tour will also spark a winning performance for him on the Sunshine Tour’s Big Easy circuit next week.
The former European Tour winner came out of early retirement early last year and made an explosive start on the country’s premier development golf circuit at the Killarney Challenge.
He racked up a hat-trick of titles and top 10 finishes in all but one of his 11 starts, but Haig’s long awaited comeback screeched to a halt when he had to go under the knife for right hip and knee surgery in late August.
The 29-year-old Nelspruit golfer made an impressive return to competitive golf on Monday, showing few signs of rustiness as he negotiated the spectacular Killarney Country Club layout in five-under-par 65.
And his early target went unmatched as Pieter Moolman clocked in with a 67 to finish second, Maritz Wessels settled for third with a 68 and Mpho Mafishe and Bennie van der Merwe returned rounds of 69 to tie for fourth.
‘I was really pleased with the way I played after so many months out,’ said Haig. ‘I was only able to start chipping and putting in January and I wasn’t even hitting full shots yet when I teed it up in the Dimension Data Pro-Am in February. Two weeks before the Sunshine Tour’s Qualifying School I finally starting hitting full shots, so I went to Q-School with zero expectations.
‘It’s been eight very frustrating months, especially after the strong start I made last year. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Garth (Milne) and Tania (Kearney) at the Wanna Be A Champion Golf Academy out at Serengeti. We worked flat out to get me back to form and they really kept me going, both mentally and physically, these past months.’
Haig rarely missed a putt and was helped in no small measure by the accuracy of his short irons as he mixed two bogeys with seven birdies to hit the front.
‘I wasn’t feeling very confident beforehand so I am absolutely pleased with my score,’ he said.
‘It wasn’t a pretty round, but I kept the ball in play and the short game was spot on. It’s really great that the first Big Easy is also at Killarney, so I am getting a good look at the course.
‘It’s not a long hitter’s course and you really have to use your head around this layout. I barely hit a driver all day; mostly hit three woods and long irons, because you have to be in the right spots to go for the pins.
‘I reckon if JC could put in a couple of rounds on the IGT Challenge Tour and beat Trevor (Fisher Jnr) in a play-off, there is hope for me yet. I’m trying a few things to get match fit for next week and the IGT Challenge Tour is the place to do it.
‘It’s really great to be back; the tour’s like family now and it’s a great circuit to get the rust off and the competitive juices flowing again. My health is strong, my head is in the right space and I putted really well to make a solid start. That’s a lot to be thankful for.’
First Round Scores
All competitors SA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as AMA
65 – Anton Haig
67 – Pieter Moolman
68 – Maritz Wessels
69 – Bennie Van Der Merwe, Mpho Mafishe
70 – Tristan Barnard AMA, Simon Kruger, Michael Dreyer, Eric Nel AMA, Quintin Crause, Warrick Druian
71 – Duane Keun, CJ Levey, Jack Duthie, Arno Pretorius AMA, Divan Marais, Basil Wright
72 – Tudor Bismark (ZIM), Ruhan Van Dijk AMA, Ruan Korb, Nic Watson AMA, Clinton Grobler
73 – Brendan Britten (NAM), Juan Langeveld, David Mofokeng, Bradley Van Biljon AMA
74 – Francesca Cuturi, Ivanna Samu, Conway Kunneke, JP Schmidt AMA, Paul Rodrigues AMA, Bryce Myburgh
75 – Tyron Mc Comb, Thabi Ngcobo
76 – Lincon Cele, Shaun van Tonder, Matthew Vogel, Vaughn Van Deventer AMA, NJ Van Der Walt AMA, Jaco Van Der Merwe AMA
77 – Marc De Jager AMA, Kyle Barker, Thabang Simon, Duan Nagel AMA, Gary Daoust (BEL), Songezo Sonamzi
78 – Jeff Hopkins (IRE), Aneel Kallan AMA, Ricardo Towell, Albert Visser, Dino Di Carlo AMA, Gary Jutzen AMA
79 – Kyle Forsman AMA
80 – Marais Visagie, Alex Krebs AMA, Mae Cornforth
81 – Matthew Rossouw AMA, Gareth Anderson AMA
82 – Dylan Morton AMA, Keagan Martin AMA, Tumie Motale
85 – Reinard Vermeulen AMA, Adam Baker AMA
86 – Andre De Jager AMA
88 – Jacques Snyman AMA (NAM), Zillan Du Pisani AMA
RTD – Eric Park (KOR)