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Jordan Loof has survived a marathon day of golf to win the NZ Super 6s, his first Charles Tour title.
He did it the hard way, playing 35 holes in the shortened Super 6 Sunday shootout format at the Manawatū Golf Club on Sunday, beating Jared Edwards in a tense final on the fourth playoff hole.
After 54 holes of stroke play to decide the seedings for the medal match play on Sunday, Loof qualified 10th, so did not get a bye in the morning round.
On his way to the afternoon finals, he beat Jake Meenhorst, Sam An, and Junhyong Lim to reach the semifinal, where he met Sung Jin Yeo.
After six holes, the pair couldn’t be separated and needed extra holes to see who would progress to the final against Auckland amateur Edwards.
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Loof stepped up, hitting an aggressive shot to the short 97-metre playoff hole, which was played from the third tee to the 18th green, and rolled in the six-foot birdie putt to book his place in the final.
Then in the final, Edwards and Loof went shot for shot early, until Loof birdied the fifth to lead by one going into the last hole of regular play.
However, Edwards wasn’t done with that easily and produced a magnificent birdie of his own to force extra holes again.
The pair shaved the hole countless times in the sudden-death playoff, making pars the first three times.
Loof went straight at the flag again, hitting his approach to around the same distance he did in the semifinal, but from the other side of the hole.
He rolled in the winning putt and let out all his emotions as he realised he’d won.
“It feels really special,” he said. “I’m still trying to process it. I can’t express how happy I am.
“I’ve had a few close calls on [tour] events and I’ve missed a few key putts when it mattered most.
NZ GOLF
Jordan Loof says the Super 6s win feels special.
“To see a couple of them slide early was a little daunting, but I couldn’t be happier to see one of them drop when it mattered.”
Loof has been in a playoff before, losing to James Hydes at the Muriwai Open in 2020 and he called on his experience to help him get over the line.
“I kept reminding myself that I’d been here before,” Loof said. “I’ve been in the final group on Sunday a couple of times and trying to manage the nerves is difficult, I felt sick to my stomach out there today.
“It’s important to acknowledge it’s okay to feel like that. It just means you care and that I’m doing all the right things.
“What I tried to bring this time was some intensity, and I’m not sure if swagger is the right word, but I believed that this was my tournament and I’m going to go out there and win it.”
The Super 6 format wasn’t the short format he expected, playing well more than the required number of holes.
Loof said there was a point in the playoff where he knew he needed to make something happen, and he was able to do it on the fourth try.
“I saw on my watch that I had 170 zone minutes, and the last time I had something like that, I ran a half marathon.
NZ GOLF
A public gallery follows the final at the Manawatū Golf Club.
“Playoff holes are hard. I think going second in every one of them is really hard too, especially trying to follow some of the great shots Jared was hitting.
“In the end, I thought one of us has got to seize the moment and try and make something happen. Thankfully, I was the one to do that.”
Edwards finished as the leading amateur after an outstanding week of golf, including an albatross in the first round.
Steven Heyes beat Sung Jin Yeo in the third and fourth playoff hole.
Tyler Hodge had been the outright leader through the first three rounds of stroke play, but lost to Stevie Heyes in round two of match play on Sunday, having had the bye in the first round.
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