CELEBRATED English golf writer Peter Dobereiner, penning words about South African great Bobby Locke in the 1950s, wrote: “Emotionally Locke was fireproof, or so it seemed. He suffered from tension of course. Everybody does. But he always looked so relaxed, confident and at ease with himself.”
These words could well be applied to Thriston Lawrence who won the Investec South African Open on 16-under-par 272 at Blair Atholl on Sunday to post his third DP World Tour title pretty much inside 12 months. The 26-year-old invariably looks extremely comfortable in his own skin out on the course, although not always as a hooked approach into the Crocodile River at the par-4 15th led to a bogey six in a somewhat shaky final nine on Sunday. But then, nobody’s perfect. Locke wasn’t and neither is Lawrence.
The fact remains he appears to play golf with an enormous amount of self-belief, again like the Bobby Locke of old in the 1940s and 1950s, and of course the evergreen Gary Player.
Lawrence arrived at the par-5 18th and, now looking fireproof again, hit a sweet three-wood down the middle followed by a brilliant approach over the water that fronts the green. That confident finish under pressure earned him a one-shot win over Frenchman Clement Sordet.
“Ja, Thriston is a pretty cool customer,” said his caddie of three years, Theunie Bezuidenhout, who was a Sunshine Tour pro himself before losing his card, becoming friendly with Lawrence and then agreeing to loop for the man.
Do you ever give him advice? “Never,” says Bezuidenhout. “I once tried and he nearly gave me a klap! He’s just so confident about his own decision-making that he doesn’t need me to tell him what to do. I’m so pleased with the progress he’s making.”
Lawrence in turn paid tribute to his loyal bag-man after Sunday’s victory. “Theunie doesn’t show much emotion and I like that. You definitely don’t want your caddie to look worried or down or get over-excited. Just stay cool.”
Locke won nine SA Opens, and Gary Player – designer of long, demanding Blair Atholl and present to witness Lawrence’s victory – an amazing 13 SA Opens. And now that Lawrence has realised his own boyhood dream of winning our national championship once, he says he’s keen on more than once.
In the meantime, there’s the Alfred Dunhill Championship beginning at Leopard Creek on Thursday. “I love that golf course and it’s just down the road from Nelspruit where I live so I know it well. I’ll be trying to win that tournament too,” says South African golf’s, super-cool, fast-rising young star.
Written by Grant Winter – Randpark Member
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