Rugumayo finishes 14th at the Betway Big Easy Tour Final in Pretoria
Only the top 40 players on the Order of Merit competed at Modderfontein, and only the top 30 after that were eligible for the final.
Rugumayo enjoyed his best season ever in South Africa. Photo by Michael Nsubuga
South Africa-based Ugandan Sunshine Tour player Ronald Rugumayo completed his 2025-26 season on a high by placing 14th in the Betway Big Easy Tour Final at the Waterkloof Golf Club in Pretoria on Thursday.
Incidentally, the MTN and Johnnie Walker-sponsored golfer qualified for the final after also finishing 14th among 31 golfers in the playoff at Modderfontein Golf Club in Johannesburg in January, in the penultimate tournament of the season.
Only the top 40 players on the Order of Merit competed at Modderfontein, and only the top 30 after that were eligible for the final. He carded an overall 5-under 211 in 54 holes to finish joint 14th with South Africans Brandon Pieters, Vaughn van Deventer, and Hannes Strooh (amateur).
Rugumayo opened with a 1-under 71, having birdied the par 5s holes 2 and 14 and the par-4 13, before a second round of 3-over 75 punctuated by five bogeys dropped him to 28th position on +3. But he recovered well and finished strong with a 7-under 65, the best score of the round only matched by Travis Procter and Tristan Leonard, to ensure a decent paycheck out of the 300,000 rand (sh97m) prize money.
An almost bogey-free round punctuated by 8 birdies was only soiled by a single bogey on the par-3 17, and he is now looking to the future with optimism. “Finally, the season has come to an end; it’s been a great experience.
To my family, friends, supporters, and followers on all my social platforms, thanks for the unending love and support,” Rugumayo said. “To my sponsors MTN and Johnnie Walker, I am so thankful and grateful for the support; thank you for believing in me.
My highlight of the season, which I'm really happy about, is my scoring average, which has dropped to 70.24 from 74, something I've been working on. “My best moments on the Big Easy Tour were finishing second at Killarney and also finishing top 30 on the order of merit, having played just 8 events out of 17 events.
On the Sunshine Tour I made most cuts that I have ever made and achieved my best finish, not forgetting having qualified for a co-sanctioned DP Tour event—the Alfred Dunhill Championships,” Rugumayo stated. He opened this year’s action with a fourth-place finish at the Sunshine Development Tour Absa Invitational Series at Thika Greens in Nairobi in January.
He then returned to South Africa to compete in the BETWAY Big Easy Tour 10 at Ebotse Links, finishing thirteenth with an overall 1-under 215 over 54 holes. This result placed him among the 33 players who made the cut from a field of 72, earning 31.05 tour points.