Emerging star looking to build on momentum

As the Sunshine Tour’s Vodacom Origins of Golf series prepares for its season finale at the Pezula Golf Estate this week, there may well be a sense in Karabo Mokoena’s mind that he’s only now getting started with his season.

The final of this celebrated series will be played from Thursday to Sunday this week on the same golf course where it first teed off in 2004.

It’s a series that has opened doors for some of the biggest names on the Sunshine Tour, who’ve used their victories here to, in some cases, go on and win DP World Tour title and even a Major.

This week, Mokoena is quietly optimistic that it may be equally positive in his own career, which this year has shown encouraging signs.

“Just having the opportunity to play here and prove it again is a privilege. I’m just focused on earning the opportunity to be here, and nothing more,” he said on Tuesday.

It’s been a solid last few weeks for Mokoena including finishes of tied 18th in the Limpopo Championship and tied 15th in the recent Stella Artois Players Championship where he led the first round with a sublime 62.

He’s currently ranked 92nd on the Sunshine Tour’s Courier Guy Order of Merit as he looks to retain his playing privileges for next season, and he has a goal of a place inside the top 70 by the end of the season.

“I’m just marking down my goals. I’ve been on Tour for four years now and confidence can be detrimental. One week you have a top five and the next week you don’t know where your swing is. So I just want to put in place the things I still want to achieve and keep my focus on that, not the feeling of confidence,” he said.

Even his own assessment of what has changed in his game this year elicits an answer that shows how much Mokoena doesn’t want to get too far ahead of himself based on his recent results.

“I don’t feel like anything has changed. I’ve been playing the same but I wasn’t getting the results until now. I have become stronger and am hitting the ball further. But I just think it’s a bit of luck going my way. I still feel like that if this version of me played against myself three years ago, that guy from three years ago would win if he could putt better. I even feel like I was fitter back then. But when the putts go in it makes a difference. That’s the case now. I also feel like I have a more relaxed mindset now.”

The final of this celebrated series will be played from Thursday to Sunday this week on the same golf course where it first teed off in 2004.

It’s a series that has opened doors for some of the biggest names on the Sunshine Tour, who’ve used their victories here to, in some cases, go on and win DP World Tour title and even a Major.

This week, Mokoena is quietly optimistic that it may be equally positive in his own career, which this year has shown encouraging signs.

“Just having the opportunity to play here and prove it again is a privilege. I’m just focused on earning the opportunity to be here, and nothing more,” he said on Tuesday.

Even his own assessment of what has changed in his game this year elicits an answer that shows how much Mokoena doesn’t want to get too far ahead of himself based on his recent results.