Sunday, January 10, 2010

Steven O'Hara earns 5,800 Euros for four steady rounds


Schwartzel wins as South Africans


provide a 1-2-3 home finish

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE:
Charl Schwartzel claimed his fourth European Tour title after his final round 67 was good enough to help him secure the Africa Open title and first prize of 158,500 Euros at East London Golf Club, Eastern Cape, South Africa today.
The South African, pictured by courtesy of Getty Images, the highest world-ranked player in the field at 66 and one of the favourites heading into the tournament, ended with a total of 272 - 20 under par for four circuits of the par-73 lay-out - to edge out joint-overnight leader and compatriot Thomas Aiken by a stroke.
Aiken, who shared the third round lead with Trevor Fisher junior, failed to produce the promising form he showed earlier in the week, which included a pair of 67s and a 69, and had to settle for a 70 and runner-up prize of 115,000 Euros.
Possibly his most decisive moment came on the par-4 fifth hole, where he found trouble and double bogeyed to slip back early in his round.
It was a South African 1-2-3 on home territory with Jbe' Kruger finishing in third place on 18 under after his day four score of 70 for a cash pay-out of 69,200 Euros.
Fisher's closing 72 - the worst among the leaders - dropped him into a share of fourth place with Chris Swanepoel and the two highest placed foreigners in the field, Englishman James Morrison and Rick Kulacz from Australia.
The quartet finished with a total of 275, while Branden Grace ended with an emphatic round of the day 66 to tie for eighth place on 16 under with five other players, including James Kingston and veteran Miles Tunnicliff.
Richard Sterne, another of the pre-competition favourites alongside the eventual winner and Kingston, tried his best to revive his chances with a determined bogey free 67, but it was only enough to get him to 15 under.
Northern Irishman Darren Clarke's three under round enabled him to finish three shots further back on an overall 12 under par for a 280 total.
But the day belonged to Schwartzel, despite having to endure a nerve-wracking wait as he watched the leading two groups finish their rounds.
The 25 year old, whose previous tournament wins came at the 2005 Alfred Dunhill Championship, the 2007 Open de Espana and the 2008 Madrid Masters, could have all-but sealed the title with a par on the 18th hole, having avoided dropping a shot over his previous 17 holes.
But he sliced his drive towards the ninth tee and took four shots to get on the green
He held his nerve for a bogey, but that still allowed an opening for the chasing Aiken. However the round three leader missed a 15ft putt for birdie at the last that would have forced a play-off.
Schwartzel said: "Obviously I played so good all day, I pretty much didn't miss a shot and then down on 18 I just came out of it.
"It was not quite what I was looking for and I put a little pressure on myself there to make five at the end.
"I said to my caddie Wynand after I hit my second shot short right, 'we're still two ahead, so let's make 5 and let them make the birdie' and it worked out in my favour."
Colin Farquharson writes:
Steven O'Hara from Motherwell, the only Scot to survive the halfway cut, had four steady rounds including a four-under-par 69 to finish with a total of 10-under-par 282. He earned 5,800 Euros for his week's work.
+The East London Golf Club measures "only" 6,770yd - short by European Tour standards - and to have a par of 73 seems all out of proporton. Two of the course's four par-5 holes are under 500yd.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 292 (4x73)
272 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 67 70 68 67
273 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 67 67 69 70
274 Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 69 68 67 70
275 Rick Kulacz (Aus) 72 69 67 67, Chris Swanepoel (Rsa) 71 68 68 68, Trevor Fisher junior (Rsa) 66 66 71 72, James Morrison 68 70 69 68
276 Michiel Bothma (Rsa) 69 69 70 68, James Kingston (Rsa) 68 69 71 68, Branden Grace (Rsa) 70 70 70 66, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 69 68 70 69, Miles Tunnicliff 68 71 67 70
277 Marco Ruiz (Par) 69 70 68 70, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 66 67 75 69, Benn Barham 71 70 68 68, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 70 66 71 70, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 66 71 73 67
278 Keith Horne (Rsa) 67 67 73 71, Jake Roos (Rsa) 68 71 66 73, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 74 66 68 70
279 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 68 73 67 71, Dawie Van Der Walt (Rsa) 73 68 66 72, Sion Bebb 70 68 71 70, Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa) 72 67 71 69, Bradford Vaughan (Rsa) 69 67 70 73, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 70 71 67 71, Neil Schietekat (Rsa) 69 69 71 70
280 Brandon Pieters (Rsa) 72 69 70 69, Joost Luiten (Ned) 69 71 70 70, Jaco Van zyl (Rsa) 69 68 73 70, George Coetzee (Rsa) 68 72 67 73, Darren Clarke 69 70 71 70, Louis De Jager (Rsa) 69 68 74 69, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 69 71 69 71
281 Titch Moore (Rsa) 66 72 70 73, Anthony Michael (Rsa) 71 70 67 73, T C Charamba (Zim) 72 67 68 74, Peter Baker 70 70 68 73, Matthew Zions (Aus) 72 69 70 70, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 68 72 69 72, Scott Hend (Aus) 72 69 71 69, Oliver Bekker (Rsa) 69 70 68 74
282 Tjaart Van Der Walt (Rsa) 67 71 74 70, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 71 70 69 72, Steven O'Hara 71 70 72 69, Julien Quesne (Fra) 71 67 75 69
283 Willie Van Der Merwe (Rsa) 71 70 74 68, Oliver Fisher 70 70 71 72
284 Sam Hutsby 68 71 73 72, Reggie Adams (Rsa) 70 71 73 70, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 69 68 76 71, Justin Walters (Rsa) 68 68 76 72, Charl Coetzee (Rsa) 68 69 73 74, Deane Pappas (Rsa) 68 68 75 73
285 Tyrone Mordt (Rsa) 70 70 72 73, Paulo Pinto (Arg) 69 70 75 71, Doug McGuigan 74 67 68 76, Michael Hoey 68 72 72 73
286 Prinavin Nelson (Rsa) 71 69 72 74, Andre Cruse (Rsa) 68 71 72 75
287 Garry Houston 69 71 74 73, Thabang Simon (Rsa) 70 71 72 74, Mark f Haastrup (Den) 66 75 73 73
288 Desvonde Botes (Rsa) 70 70 75 73, Carl Suneson (Spa) 69 72 73 74
289 Jacques Blaauw (Rsa) 69 70 73 77
292 Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 72 67 77 76

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