James Johnson is poised to win the Sir Garry Sobers Festival of Golf which concludes today.
The defending champion entered the tournament as overwhelming favourite and has lived up to that billing with some fantastic play on the first three days. He shot 71 on the first two days at Royal Westmoreland and Apes Hill.
He went one better yesterday with a score of 70 – the best round of the tournament so far – at the Sandy Lane Country Club.
Johnson is a whopping 16 strokes ahead of second-place Daryl Jones, who lost ground with a 78 after an impressive round of 73 on Friday at Apes Hill.
He told SUNSPORT that he was confident of defending his title when he plays the final round at the Barbados Golf Club at Durant’s, Christ Church.
“I think I have built up a good enough lead that I can maintain as we go over to the Barbados Golf Club, a course that I know very well from playing there quite a few times,” he said.
“I was trying to get into my game-plan and my rhythm. I actually didn’t have any bogeys today (yesterday) so I was happy about that. I kept out of trouble and stayed on the fairways and the greens so that was satisfying.
“I was eight or nine ahead yesterday (Friday) and I had another very good round today (yesterday) so once I play another good round tomorrow (today) I should be able to win in grand style.”
There was some early morning rain across the island yesterday, but Johnson said that did not present a major hazard for himself and the other golfers in the Championship Flight.
“The rain did not affect the course too much,”?he said. “The course played similarly to how it normally does. It is still a pretty long course and the greens can be challenging.”
Johnson will look to maintain his lead when he tees off at Barbados Golf Club at 12:20 p.m. alongside Jones and Scott Stollmeyer, who sits in third place.
The four-day competition is one of the leading golfing events on the calendar in the Caribbean and this year has attracted more than 250 participants from all corners of the globe. The final round will be played today at the same four courses. (RS)
