Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jonge won the Xerox Classic for his first Nationwide Tour title Sunday, closing with a 1-under 69 at Irondequoit Country Club for a two-stroke victory.
De Jonge, wearing Classics Tour and a SciFlex glove, finished at 13-under 267 and earned $108,000 to jump from 12th to second on the money list with $316,056, pretty much guaranteeing him a return trip to the PGA Tour in 2009.
“This is such a tough golf course that sometimes when you hit a good shot it doesn’t end up in a good spot,” said de Jonge, tied for 29th in greens in regulation but first in putting for the week. “My short game was probably the best it’s ever been for a whole week. It was just one of those weeks.”
The 28-year old former Virginia Tech player has par-or-better scores in 26 of his last 28 rounds and is a combined 79 under in that stretch. In his last four starts, he has tied for third, tied for 18th, finished fifth and won. This week he fired four rounds in the 60’s (67-64-67-69) en route to victory.
“This is the best lengthy stretch of golf I’ve played in my life,” de Jonge said.
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Australia’s Katherine Hull came from six strokes behind Sunday to win the Canadian Women’s Open for her first LPGA Tour title. The 26-year-old Hull, a former star at Pepperdine, shot a 3-under 69 to finish at 11-under 277 for a one stroke victory.
“This is something we all dream about as kids and to have it actually happen is amazing,” Hull said. “I was thinking this might be the year I broke through and got a win, but at six shots back, I didn’t think much about it.
“I just tried to play the best I could. I honestly didn’t expect to win at all. But that’s how golf goes. It’s four rounds, 72 holes and anything can happen.”
