ALFRED DUNHILL CHAMPIONSHIP IN SOUTH AFRICA

ROOKIE QUIROS PIPS
SCHWARTZEL FOR
DUNHILL TITLE
Spaniard Alvaro Quiros, 23-year-old European Tour rookie from Cadiz, came with a late run to win the Alfred Dunhill championship from under the nose of long-time leader Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) at Leopard Creek Country Club today.
Quiros, playing in his first tournament with a European Tour card - he finished 18th in the 2006 European Challenge Tour, fired four birdies in his final six holes.
Starting the last day, four shots behind Schwartzel, Quiros overhauled him with a five-under-par round of 67 for a 13-under-par total of 275.
That was one better than Schwartzel who closed with a par 72 - easily the worst of his four rounds - for 276.
Schwartzel, the the 2004 championship winner, was one shot behind the lanky Spaniard playing the last, but sent his second shot at the par-5 18th into the water surrounding the island green, killing his chances of forcing a play-off.
Quiros sealed his victory with two putts from 65 feet for a birdie at the last. His putt for an eagle 3 shaved the hole, leaving him with a simple tap-in for birdie.
"I have not been hitting the ball very straight off the tee and Saturday was terrible, I was pulling everything," said Quiros. "But with my putting, which has been very poor the last five months, I didn't miss.
"And when I have a six-iron in my hand I think I can do anything, I don't use it as an umbrella." The Spaniard also went to the European Tour Final Qualifying School at San Roque to improve his qualification for the Tour and finished in the high 30s.
England's Lee Westwood started with a 73 and finished with a 73 to fill third place on 279.
Canada-based Glaswegian six-footer Alan McLean finished a creditable joint eighth on 282, closing with his best round of the four days - a 77.

LEADING TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
275 A Quiros (Spa) 74 66 68 67 (R1,497,033).
276 C Schwartzel (SAf) 68 68 68 72 (R1,086,175).
279 L Westwood (Eng) 73 66 67 73 (R652,650).
280 D Fichardt (SAf) 72 70 69 69, R Fisher (Eng) 73 69 68 70 (R425,970 each).
281 H Otto (SAf) 71 69 69 72, Mark Pilkington (Wal) 70 71 65 75 (R303,185 each).
282 A McLean (Sco) 77 69 69 67, A Tadini (Ita) 68 74 71 69, E Els (SAf) 72 72 69 69 (R202,438 each).
283 E Rush (Eng) 73 72 71 67, P Archer (Eng) 68 72 74 69, S Drummond (Sco) 71 70 73 69 , T Moore (SAf) 76 64 73 70, A Rocha (Bra) 0 74 67 70 72, D Terblanche (SAf) 70 72 65 76 (R144,980 each).
284 R Rock (Eng) 74 70 71 69, J Van Zyl (SAf) 73 69 72 70, J Axgren (Swe) 70 74 68 72 (R119,007).
Other totals included:
286 D Drysdale (Sco) 73 73 68 72, E Little (Sco) 72 70 70 74 (R87,029) (jt 25th).
287 O Wilson (Eng) 68 70 72 77 (R71,782) (jt 32nd).
289 A Coltart (Sco) 69 76 71 73 (R57,614) (jt 41st)
293 O Fisher (Eng) 71 70 77 75 (R25,974) (jt 58th).