While Brandon Stone finds himself in Mexico for the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, his victory on the 2016-17 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit is being celebrated during the Tshwane Open.

While the Order of Merit only draws to a conclusion on the completion of the tournament at Pretoria Country Club on Sunday, Stone’s victories which book-ended 2016 in the BMW SA Open and the Alfred Dunhill Championship took him too far ahead of his pursuers to be caught, and not even a victory in Tshwane by the currently second-placed Dean Burmester would be enough for Stone to be stopped.
Stone is the second-youngest player to win the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit. Charl Schwartzel was just 20 when he took the 2004-05 season’s title, and Stone is 23.

Stone’s stellar season which won him the venerable Sid Brews Trophy included six other top-10 performances. They were a share of 10th in last year’s Tshwane Open, of sixth in the 2016 Dimension Data Pro-Am, second in the Investec Cup, sixth in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, a share of second in the Lion of Africa Cape Town Open and of fourth in last month’s Joburg Open.

His final prize-money tally of R7 384 889 is the most for any season ever on the Sunshine Tour, comfortably beating the R5 599 265 won by Richard Sterne back in 2008.

Also sealing some special silverware comfortably ahead of time is Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who has sewn up the Bobby Locke Trophy for the Sunshine Tour Rookie of the Year.

Bezuidenhout won the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School last January, came second behind Stone in the BMW SA Open in January 2016 and won his maiden professional title in October when he took the Sun Fish River Sun Challenge.

He managed six other top-10 finishes, and his consistency put him more than R2-million ahead of his nearest challenger, Christoffer Blomstrand of Sweden who won the Zambia Sugar Open last year.