Jacques Van Der Merwe secured his Sunshine Tour card for this season in spectacular fashion after he claimed a come-from-behind victory in the ninth Betway Big Easy Tour event of the season, held at Krugersdorp Golf Club.
Thursday’s triumph was the third of the current campaign for Van der Merwe and thus, as Tour regulations stipulate, a direct pathway to the main Tour of which the Betway Big Easy Tour is the feeder.
Van Der Merwe started the final round at nine-under-par and a stroke off the pace set by Andre Van Zyl, setting up what would be a sizzling final round.
With Van Zyl struggling to maintain his momentum and eventually signing for an even-par round, Van Der Merwe seized the moment with a brilliant 69 to total 12-under-par 204.
The moment Jacques won his 3rd #BetwayBigEasyTour title of the season 🏆🏆🏆#GreatnessBeginsHere pic.twitter.com/NYxdwDJ0Bs
— Big Easy Tour (@bigeasytourgolf) November 13, 2025
“Life happens quickly, hey”, Van Der Merwe mused, reflecting on his hat-trick of victories this season.
“I was thinking about it four holes ago; walking on the fairway and thinking how quickly things can happen, especially in this sport. If you work hard and forget about tournaments and results, things can happen on a blink of an eye.
"Being in contention for eight weeks in a row and then missing two cuts, and then coming back, makes it way more nerve-wracking than it usually is. I was definitely shaking a bit, but I’ve got that Delmas-boy confidence and I could deal with it nicely.”
CARD SECURED!
— Big Easy Tour (@bigeasytourgolf) November 13, 2025
With his win at Krugersdorp Golf Club, Jacques also secured his @Sunshine_Tour playing privileges for the current campaign🔝#GreatnessBeginsHere #BetwayBigEasyTour #SunshineTour pic.twitter.com/VB11tlMZJe
With his win in Krugersdorp, Van Der Merwe became the first player to win thrice this season, marking a sensational season even before it ends next year.
“It means a lot to me,” he said of his extraordinary achievement. “I don’t think that I would have been able to say I’d achieve all that by now. But if you work hard and focus on growth rather than the result, then the sky is the limit.”
Van der Merwe also praised the Betway Big Easy Tour for carving out pathways for professionals to elevate their game and for the incentives with which success comes on this circuit.
This ninth event of the season was the last tournament of the year before the Christmas break.
The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s feeder circuit and enjoys the support of the legendary Ernie Els, among other patrons.
SCORES
204 - Jacques Van der Merwe 67 68 69
205 - Oliver Goldhill 70 73 62, Vaughn van Deventer 67 72 66
206 - Andre Van Zyl 68 66 72
207 - Therion Nel 70 66 71
209 - Wandre Snyman 71 67 71
211 - Joe Sullivan 67 73 71, Dillon Germshuys 67 72 72
213 - Liam Ross 73 69 71, Keagan Crosbie 69 70 74
214 - Adam Breen 70 75 69, Jake Bolton 74 70 70, Matt Millar 70 74 70, Kian Rose 72 69 73, Rigardt Albertse 73 67 74
215 - LB Boshoff 72 69 74, Andre De Decker 70 71 74
216 - Brandon Pieters 72 73 71, Travis Procter 72 72 72, Travis Ladner 70 72 74
217 - Joshua Koekemoer 71 72 74, Kyle Kistensamy 74 68 75, Romano Saincic 74 68 75
218 - Philip Geerts 71 73 74
219 - Louis Liebenberg 73 72 74, Tiger Adams 72 72 75
220 - Brandon Gildenhuys 72 73 75, Hannes Strooh 69 76 75
221 - Jaden Deltel 71 72 78
222 - Ricco Motsa 71 73 78
DSQ - Lwazi Gqira 69 75 DSQ
MISSED THE CUT:
146 - Austin Cherichella 76 70, Tristan Leonard 75 71, Shaunak Rama 76 70, Steven Le Roux 73 73, Kian Coetzer 68 78, Tiago Jorge Swart 72 74, Hayden Garcia 77 69, John Bele 71 75
147 - Matthew Rushton 75 72
148 - Regan Steyn 73 75, Matthew Dennis 74 74
149 - Jason Froneman 77 72, Matt Saulez 72 77
150 - Thabang Simon 73 77, Jonathan Ackerman 74 76
151 - Shaydon Johnson 76 75, Alphius Kelapile 78 73, Khanya Mkhize 75 76, Reece Mc Kain 77 74, Shaheed Patel 76 75
152 - Leon Visser 76 76, Christiaan Pretorius 80 72, Joshua Van der Wath 79 73
154 - Slenda Sithebe 77 77
155 - Lyle Pedro 79 76
156 - Miles Gray 73 83
157 - Chandler Shaw 83 74
159 - Brandon-Jude Rennie 79 80, Mark Maart 77 82, Allister de Kock 79 80
173 - Phumlani Maluka 89 84
WDN - Drikus Joubert WDN
