Horne crowned new MTC PGA champion

DURBAN-BORN Keith Horne blasted an eight-under-par 63 to win the MTC Namibia PGA trophy at the Windhoek Country Club on Saturday.

According to the official Sunshine Tour website, the Asian Tour regular was imperious as he ended a nine-year title drought, nailing eight birdies in his third consecutive blemish-free round for a winning total of 18-under-par 195. Horne, who previously won the 1998 Vodacom Series Kwazulu Natal, walked away with the top prize of N$110 950 and a major boost to his Order of Merit ranking, which saw him moving up from 33rd position to 20th overall.The 36-year-old finished five strokes clear of compatriots Hennie Otto, Ulrich van den Berg and Doug McGuigan, who shared second on 13-under.Grant Muller finished with a final round of 63 to tie Zimbabwe’s Tongoona Charamba (65) for fifth at 12-under, one shot ahead of Nic Henning (66) and joint overnight leader, Adilson da Silva from Brazil, who finished with a round of 70.After negotiating the par-71 course with earlier rounds of 67 and 65, Horne teed off in the final round sharing the lead with Van den Berg and Da Silva at 10-under.Solid drives and superb putting gave Horne the advantage from the word go.He birdied holes one, two, five and seven to move clear of his playing partners, but Van den Berg narrowed the gap from three to two with three birdies over the last five holes before the turn.Both Horne and Van den Berg birdied the 10th and 11th, but while Van den Berg dropped a shot at the 15th, Horne remained majestic as he collected another two birdies at the 14th and 18th on his way to the podium.Winning was sweet for Horne, who tied for second in 2005 and 10th last year.”It has been nine years since I won, so this will take a while to sink in,” said Horne, who missed only one green on his way to an emphatic victory.”The way I played in the last three days, not dropping a shot, was just fantastic.I have to acknowledge Hendrik’s coaching in Asia.He certainly put me on track with this new swing.”I had a great start and was five under on the front and I told myself just to keep to fairways and green and stay steady.Once I got through 11, I was two ahead and I knew the title could be mine.”Horne, who leaves for Asia in a couple of days, was delighted to have his wife and two daughters with him to celebrate the moment.”It’s been a crazy year.I’ve played 40 tournaments on three Tours in 20 countries.To come home for this event and to win, is the best reward for all the hard work I have put in and the support Karen (wife) and my sponsors have given me.”Van den Berg gave chase all day but fell foul of a stubborn putter over the three closing holes.”I realised my chances to win were diminishing but I didn’t expect to finish in joint second place,” said Van den Berg.”But I left three birdie putts in the throat… so frustrating.Keith played like a champion and he wholly deserved his victory.Otto leapfrogged Louis Oosthuizen into second place on the Order of Merit and his joint second place cheque, worth N$54 436, leaves him just N$90 000 shy of money list leader, Andrew McLardy.NampaHorne, who previously won the 1998 Vodacom Series Kwazulu Natal, walked away with the top prize of N$110 950 and a major boost to his Order of Merit ranking, which saw him moving up from 33rd position to 20th overall.The 36-year-old finished five strokes clear of compatriots Hennie Otto, Ulrich van den Berg and Doug McGuigan, who shared second on 13-under.Grant Muller finished with a final round of 63 to tie Zimbabwe’s Tongoona Charamba (65) for fifth at 12-under, one shot ahead of Nic Henning (66) and joint overnight leader, Adilson da Silva from Brazil, who finished with a round of 70.After negotiating the par-71 course with earlier rounds of 67 and 65, Horne teed off in the final round sharing the lead with Van den Berg and Da Silva at 10-under.Solid drives and superb putting gave Horne the advantage from the word go.He birdied holes one, two, five and seven to move clear of his playing partners, but Van den Berg narrowed the gap from three to two with three birdies over the last five holes before the turn.Both Horne and Van den Berg birdied the 10th and 11th, but while Van den Berg dropped a shot at the 15th, Horne remained majestic as he collected another two birdies at the 14th and 18th on his way to the podium.Winning was sweet for Horne, who tied for second in 2005 and 10th last year.”It has been nine years since I won, so this will take a while to sink in,” said Horne, who missed only one green on his way to an emphatic victory.”The way I played in the last three days, not dropping a shot, was just fantastic.I have to acknowledge Hendrik’s coaching in Asia.He certainly put me on track with this new swing.”I had a great start and was five under on the front and I told myself just to keep to fairways and green and stay steady.Once I got through 11, I was two ahead and I knew the title could be mine.”Horne, who leaves for Asia in a couple of days, was delighted to have his wife and two daughters with him to celebrate the moment.”It’s been a crazy year.I’ve played 40 tournaments on three Tours in 20 countries.To come home for this event and to win, is the best reward for all the hard work I have put in and the support Karen (wife) and my sponsors have given me.”Van den Berg gave chase all day but fell foul of a stubborn putter over the three closing holes.”I realised my chances to win were diminishing but I didn’t expect to finish in joint second place,” said Van den Berg.”But I left three birdie putts in the throat… so frustrating.Keith played like a champion and he wholly deserved his victory.Otto leapfrogged Louis Oosthuizen into second place on the Order of Merit and his joint second place cheque, worth N$54 436, leaves him just N$90 000 shy of money list leader, Andrew McLardy.Nampa