July 22, 2012; St. Annes, ENGLAND; Thomas Aiken tees off on the 1st hole during the final round of the 2012 British Open Championship at Royal Lytham
The South African golfers have been completely dominant so far this year on the European Tour and the trend continued this week with Thomas Aiken winning the 2013 Avantha Masters at the Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort in Dehli, India.
Rounds of 67-69-62-67 helped the 29-year-old to his second European Tour title and he became the sixth South African to win a regular tour event from ten events this season.
“I’ve been playing very nicely the last four months, not making a lot of mistakes, but just not sinking enough putts,” Aiken said.
“This week a few went in, I hit some better iron shots which gave me a better chance to sink some putts, and I played some phenomenal golf.”
Hot on Aiken’s tail was Indian, Gaganjeet Bhullar who finished -20 for the week three shots behind after carding an 8 under (64) in the final round. The next best player was Liang Wen Chong of China, with a hole and one on the Par 3, 7th hole helping him finish in outright third position for the week.
While six of the opening ten season events have been played in South Africa, it’s still a mean feat for five different locals to win events on their home soil, with Aiken the first to win outside of his home country. The Race to Dubai ranking are also hotly contested by the South African’s with Richard Sterne the pick of nine players inside the top 25.
The tour moves on to Malaysia next week for the Maybank Malaysian Open at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
Staff writer for Pro Golf Now.
Steve Engbloom
Pro Golf Now
