South African Open Results
Christiaan Bezuidenhout secured back to back European Tour wins on home soil following a five shot victory at the 110th South African Open
The 26-year-old began his final round with a five shot advantage over Welshman Jamie Donaldson, who cut the deficit to two before turn as the South African struggled to make an impact on the scoreboard at Gary Player Country Club.
But Bezuidenhout regained his form on the the back nine to sign for a 69 and finish on 18 under par overall to seal his third European Tour title of the season following his win the Dimension Data Pro-Am - co-sanctioned by the European Challenge Tour - in February and his magnificent four shot victory at the Alfred Dunhill Championship seven days ago.
The South African will be a dark horse at next week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai after climbing into the top five of the 2020 Race to Dubai standings.
"It's unbelievable to stand here with an Open win," Bezuidenhout said. "It's a South African golfer's dream to win a national tournament. It's unreal.
"I fought hard today, the front nine things didn't really go my way and I just dug deep to come out with a win today.
"That was massive (birdieing the tenth, 11th and 12th). I have to say, the second putt on 11 was huge and obviously the putt on 12 was a bonus, I just tried to get it close inside a couple of feet and made it.
"I knew I had to make pars coming in and I did it. I'm really, really chuffed to stand here as a winner.
Donaldson sealed second place at 13 under, with South African Dylan Frittelli two shots back in third and compatriot Dean Burmester in fourth at ten under.
JC Ritchie birdied the last to move into solo fifth at nine under, German Marcel Siem, Hennie Du Plessis and Zimbabwe's Scott Vincent one stroke behind were in a tie for sixth while Frenchman Julien Guerrier and Scot Connor Syme rounded off the top at seven and six under par respective.
Aaron Cockerill shot 72,74 over the weekend, still another top 20, he finished T18 -3 as he wraps up 5 months on the road that is the European Tour. After the COVID break he has travelled to England, Wales, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Cyprus and now South Africa. Before the break he played in Australia, Mauritius, Oman, and Qatar.
He didn't qualify for next week's Race to Dubai finale in Dubai for the top 60. He finishes 117th after playing in 21 tournaments all year, earned about $185,000US and is now ranked #394 in the world.
He will be fully qualified for the 2021 season because while the intention remains to crown a new Race to Dubai Champion on Sunday December 13, as part of the changes to the end of the 2020 season caused by the impact of COVID-19, the European Tour’s Tournament Committee recently agreed that all Members’ 2020 Categories, and their ranking within that category, will be retained in 2021 with related playing rights being protected to the absolute maximum possible in the 2021 season.
Bryan Angus (courtesy europeantour.com)
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