Scott Vincent was rewarded for showing the patience befitting a saint, making a late birdie on the 17th hole that edged him ahead by one shot at the end of the third round in the US$2 million (RM8.4m) International Series Morocco.
At the par-73 Royal Golf Dar Es Salam course on Saturday, the Zimbabwean started the penultimate round leading by two shots, and despite a solid day of ball striking, his putter refused to cooperate.
Vincent made only two birdies in a bogey-free round of two-under par 71 and stayed ahead of the fast-charging Thai Settee Prakongvech (67), who closed with a disappointing bogey.
China’s Bobby Bai matched Settee’s 67 and took possession of third place on the leaderboard at nine-under par total. The Aussie duo of Jack Buchanan (68) and Maverick Antcliff (72), American Austen Truslow (69) and Thai Suteepat Prateeptienchai (71) were in a tie for fourth place at eight-under.
Two-time International Series champion, American Peter Uihlein (72) made a bogey on the last hole to slip and join China’s Yanwei Liu (71) in tied eighth place.
Vincent’s was one of only two bogey-free rounds of the day, a clear indicator that the course was playing difficult, but the 33-year-old Denver, Colorado resident was rarely in trouble. He made a birdie on the par-five fifth hole and had several looks at birdies but failed to make any apart from the chip to two feet on the drivable par-four 17th hole.
On the par-four 16th, his birdie putt from 10 feet made a hard 360-degree horseshoe, and on the par-five 18th, he left it short by inches, again from 10 feet.
“It was great, a little challenging for me out there. I didn’t feel like I drove it particularly well, which just made it a little harder. But all in all, it was nice, solid and steady, and always nice to play bogey-free,” said the man whose last international win was almost three years and one month ago in the 2022 International Series England.
