Zimbabwean professional golfer Brendon de Jonge finally rediscovered the form that once made him one of Africa’s flag bearers on the money-spinning US PGA Tour after making the cut at the $6,2m RSM Classic at the Sea Island Resort, in Georgia on Friday.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
The 37-year-old US-based golfer has been labouring with the worst form of his professional career, which culminated in him losing his playing privileges on the US PGA Tour card at the end of last season.
De Jonge, however, put the disappointing run of recent results behind him as he made the most of a sponsor’s invitation to feature in the tournament with a solid performance which thrust him in contention for the RSM Classic title.
The former Zimbabwe Sportsperson of the Year, who has very fond memories from the RSM Classic after narrowly missing out on the 2015 title in a playoff, carded identical rounds of 67 for a 36-hole total of eight-under-par 134.
De Jonge was expected to start the third round last night just six shots behind the halfway leader Austin Cook on 14-under 128.
It was a complete turnaround for the former St John’s College student and Virginia Tech University graduate, who finished a career-worst 221st in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings last season, missing 12 of 14 cuts, and missing the season ending playoffs for a second straight year.
Inclusive of two missed cuts at the start of this season, de Jonge had missed 10 consecutive cuts.
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In his last 46 events on the US PGA Tour, de Jonge has missed 33 cuts with just two top-25 finishes and no top 10 finish which has seen him drop to number 1 172 on the Official World Golf Ranking.
De Jonge, who has earned a whopping $11 439 854 in prize money on the PGA Tour since 2007, will be hoping that his performance in the RSM Classic is the beginning of his return to the top.
Before his dismal campaign last season, de Jonge had been Zimbabwe’s flag bearer on the US PGA Tour since the retirement of the legendary trio of former world number one and World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Nick Price, Mark McNulty and Tony Johnstone.
