Staff WriterOliver Bekker turned moving boxes into box-office golf on Sunday as he surged through the field with a closing 67 to win the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open by two shots at Durban Country Club, proving that even a man “slowing down” can still lap the youngsters when the putter behaves.
The weather-shortened 54-hole event became a straight sprint, and Bekker – supposedly easing into semi-retirement in Australia – simply hit the turbo. Seven birdies, two bogeys, and a final total of 16-under par left everyone else squinting at the leaderboard and wondering when, exactly, this guy was meant to be winding things down.
Sweden’s Christofer Blomstrand took second on 14-under after a final-round 71, but this was Bekker’s show from the moment he caught fire on the back nine.
‘Moving more furniture than playing golf’
The irony of the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open champion is that he’s not actually been doing much work of the golfing kind lately. Bekker has recently relocated to Australia, where life has looked more like a home makeover show than a Tour schedule.
“It’s a little bit surreal. Since we moved to Australia I’ve been moving more furniture than playing golf. I missed the cut last week so came into this event with not too many expectations, and sometimes that’s when you play your best golf,” said Bekker.
So much for low expectations. Just four months ago he picked up a title on the PGA Tour of Australasia; now he’s added a second HotelPlanner Tour win to what is starting to look suspiciously like a late-career hot streak.
“I’ve been working with somebody in Stellenbosch. It’s just small things, and not to fight what I want to do naturally. It’s paying dividends. I’ve been playing well lately without changing too much. I’ve got a wealth of experience behind me now, which also helps.”
That “wealth of experience” looked like money in the bank around Durban Country Club’s sneaky stretch of closing holes, where crosswinds, nerves and the sight of your name near the top of the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open leaderboard can turn even the steadiest hands into maracas.
A wild chase and one disastrous eight
For a while on Sunday it looked as though the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open trophy might be heading in several different directions at once. A cluster of players made early runs, and Spain’s Pablo Ereno was right in the thick of it until the golf gods decided to flick him in the forehead.
The par-four 17th can be awkward at the best of times; Ereno turned it into a horror story with an eight that blew his challenge to pieces. It was the kind of hole that reminds you this is golf, not a fairytale, and that the line between contending and packing your bags can be as thin as a three-foot slider.
Bekker, meanwhile, just kept quietly stacking birdies and doing what experienced winners do: turning chaos into a scorecard that looks far calmer than it felt.
“I started slowly, but then started hitting a few quality shots. I thought if I could get to 17 under I’d have shot. As I walked off the 12th green I saw that somebody was on 16 under, so the guys were going low early. I managed to make a few good putts.
When I got to 18 I thought I needed to make birdie just to have a chance. I did that, and then I saw the scoreboard and 13 under was in second place. That’s when I knew I might have done it.”
That birdie up the last didn’t just “give him a chance” – it turned out to be a victory lap disguised as a pressure putt.
More than a trophy
For all the shot-making and the numbers next to his name, this Jonsson Workwear Durban Open win clearly meant more to Bekker than another line on the CV.
His wife stayed up in Australia to watch the drama unfold from the other side of the world, and she was first on the phone after he’d signed his card. There was also the weight of something far heavier than a trophy on his shoulders – the recent loss of a close friend.
“It was nice to speak to my wife. And I lost a very close friend recently. It makes you realise just how short life is, and that moments like this are special.”
It’s hard to “slow down” a career when you keep finding ways to make moments like that. With two HotelPlanner Tour titles now in the bag and the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open added to his growing haul since the move Down Under, Bekker may be doing less practice and more furniture shifting – but on Sundays like this, he still looks every inch the full-time winner.
