When Herman ‘Deco’ Mutebi shot an opening round of 68 to assume leadership of the Pearl of Africa Golf Series in Entebbe, not many fancied him to last the distance.
Deco, it was thought, would fold under the pressure from the famed pre-tournament favorites of professional golf in the country.
On Saturday, however, he made critics eat humble pie. The former caddie shot a closing round of one-under 70 to hold off a spirited fight from Rodell Gaita Tadeo to win the tournament.
Deco finished with a five-under 279, two strokes better than Gaita. If there were doubts about Deco’s mental fortitude, he proved his doubters wrong by matching every punch Gaita hurled at him.
When Gaita birdied the seventh hole, Deco instantly responded with a birdie on the eighth. Both golfers played identical scores of 34 on the front nine, meaning they started the back nine as they had started the final round, with Gaita trailing by two.
On the tenth, Deco missed the green and failed to scramble, but Gaita saved par to go within one stroke of the leader.
The eleventh would prove somewhat pivotal; Gaita three-putted from within 10 feet, while Deco got par. While it crushed Gaita, he responded with a crisp chip-in on the par-3 twelfth.
Deco yet again showed his newfound maturity by holing a birdie that kept him at arm’s length from his opponent.
Both birdied the thirteenth before Gaita sank a long, downhill birdie on the next hole to come within a stroke of Deco.
Gaita, however, missed a short birdie putt on the fifteenth, while Deco nailed his to go two strokes up. A bogey by Gaita on the sixteenth left him three strokes down and seemingly out.
There was still the dreaded seventeenth to play, and that is where Gaita’s hopes ended. His second shot to attack the green saw his ball remain stuck in a tree, and he dropped for a penalty before settling for a double-bogey.
Deco, cautious at this point not to make any careless mistakes, also holed a double-bogey to go on the final tee with a three-stroke lead.
He played an easy par, and despite a birdie from Gaita, the lead was unassailable. It was a richly deserved victory for a player who played the best golf over the four days.
Deco took the lion’s share of the Shs20m kitty for the professionals. Gaita finished second, with Silver Opio, David Kamulindwa, Abraham Ainamani, Philip Kasozi, and Davis Kato following in that order.
Earlier on Friday, 50-year-old Michael Tumusiime triumphed in the amateurs after holding off challenges from Elton Thembo and Samuel Bazaale.
