Arthur the Lionheart seals dream GolfRSA International victory

It took a gritty birdie on the first extra-hole of a sudden-death play-off on Friday for Astin Arthur to overcome the challenge of Charl Barnard and win the GolfRSA International Amateur Championship at Royal Johannesburg Golf Club on the East Course.

In the final round, the pair had gone toe-to-toe on one of the country’s fabled championship courses, and Arthur’s bogey-free 68 had trumped Barnard’s three-under-par 69 – and Barnard was left ruing the lone bogey he made on the par-five seventh.

Arthur had a chance to win it coming down the stretch. “Coming down 18, I was one ahead,” he said, as he and Barnard made their way up the reachable par-five which closes out Royal Johannesburg East. “I hit a good tee shot and I had four-iron in. The wind gusted and changed as I played it, and I double-crossed it. I missed it in a terrible spot. To be honest, I though Charl was going to make the eagle putt because he was putting great coming down the stretch.

“My heart-rate was definitely up. I just kept focussed on my own game and played the 18th exactly the same in the play-off. I just didn't miss the shot. I hit it on the green and put the pressure on Charl and just lagged the eagle putt up.”

It was a long eagle-putt, and he judged the weight to perfection, leaving himself a tap-in for birdie, while Barnard had a difficult 15-footer for his birdie after he hit his chip past the hole. Barnard missed and had to look away as Arthur stepped up and slotted the winner.

The pair had left Jordan Burnand two strokes back in third place on 15-under-par after his closing five-under 67 had brough the reigning South African Stroke Play champion close, but not close enough.

South African Golf Development Board Elite Squad player Johndre Ludick and Frenchman Octave Bailo shared fourth a further four strokes back on 11-under after closing rounds of 70 and 72 respectively.

For Arthur, it was all about evaluating what the win means for the South African No 1: “This victory is right up there among my wins; probably right at the top,” he said. “It’s obviously one of the big three in the GolfRSA Summer Swing, so you want to play well and get the world ranking points, and I had a lot of points to defend from last year.

“Personally, this win means a lot. This off-season was long, but I didn’t take a day off since I played the Afred Dunhill in December. I haven’t played great, and I wasn't happy with the way I finished the season, so to see some results is definitely a step in the right direction, and I’m just going to keep going from there.”

With a flight to catch to Leopard Creek for the African Amateur Championship – and a place in The Open at Royal Portrush at stake there – he didn’t have much time to savour how he achieved things, but one thing was certain.

“I said to myself I was just going to stay in my own lane. I didn’t want to get too involved in what everyone else was doing because I didn’t do that for the last three days. I knew what I had to do, where I needed to hit the ball to score. Fortunately, I was able to do that today.

“I handled the pressure pretty well. I’ve been in this kind of situation a few times now, so I was able to call on previous experiences. I was very present and aware of my surroundings and what I needed to do.”

That mindset and those skills married together suggest he’s going to be tough to stop.