Charl Schwartzel displayed his champion qualities down the stretch as he cruised to his fourth Alfred Dunhill Championship title at Leopard Creek.
Schwartzel's lead was just a single stroke when he stuttered to the turn one over for the final round, but he pulled clear of the chasing pack with a crucial run of three birdies in four holes from the 11th and calmly parred in to complete a four-shot victory.
The home favourite held a three-shot advantage overnight, but he missed a six-foot birdie putt at the first and then bogeyed the third after pushing his drive way right, just as Jaco Van Zyl was rounding off a superb eight-under 64 that gave encouragement to Schwartzel's closest challengers.
The 2005, 2013 and 2014 champion responded with his fourth birdie of the tournament at the sixth, but he missed the green with a wild approach to the eighth and was unable to get up and down to save his par.
However, Schwartzel's long game clicked back into gear after the turn and he converted excellent pitches to the 11th and 13th before pouring in a clutch 25-foot putt for another birdie at 14.
Schwartzel's course management skills then shone through over the final four holes as he negotiated each with cast-iron pars to close out a three-under 69 for a winning score of 15 under par, sealing his 10th European Tour victory.
The next three places on the leaderboard were dominated by Frenchmen, with Gregory Bourdy winning the race for second despite ruining a flying start with a triple-bogey at the short seventh.
Bourdy reeled off four consecutive bogeys before coming to grief at the 215-yard par-three, but he picked up four further birdies on the inward half to post a 68 and finish on 11 under.
Benjamin Hebert cost himself a share of second when he closed with a scrappy bogey-six at the last to return a 72, while Sebastien Gros, playing in the final group with Schwartzel, did well to get back to nine under after he took himself out of contention with a disastrous start.
The Challenge Tour graduate double-bogeyed the third and fourth, although he produced a spirited response with birdies at two of the next three holes before coming home in 36 to salvage a 73.
England's Matt Ford, who retained his card with little to spare in the final regular-season event of the 2015 campaign, birdied two of the last four holes to return a 70 which earned him a share of fifth on eight under with Joost Luiten and another Frenchman, Thomas Linard.
Van Zyl's effort was unquestionably the round of the day as he birdied eight of the last 11 holes to propel himself 45 places up the leaderboard to seven under along with Eddie Pepperell, who closed with a six-birdie 68.
Defending champion Branden Grace pitched in for eagle at the 11th and birdied 13 and 15 to get to nine under, but he bogeyed 16 and over-hit his third into water at the last to finish with a disappointing 71.
No comments:
Post a Comment