Christiaan Bezuidenhout impressed in South Africa to claim a four-shot win at Leopard Creek and secure a second European Tour title; Three birdies in five holes on the back nine helped him pull clear of the field
Sunday 29 November 2020 15:25, UK
Christiaan Bezuidenhout secured a second European Tour title with an impressive four-stroke victory on home soil at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
The world No 61 - the highest-ranked player in the field - posted a three-under 69 in a thrilling final day at Leopard Creek to end the week on 14 under, as the chasing pack faltered along the closing stretch.
England's Richard Bland finished in a share of second alongside overnight leader Adrian Meronk, Jayden Schaper and Sean Crocker - who triple-bogeyed his final hole - while Robert MacIntyre carded a round-of-the-day 67 to end the week in tied-sixth.
"It's incredible," he told Sky Sports Golf. "This tournament has been close to my heart since I played it for the first time.
"It's always been a tournament I wanted to win and to pull it off today is really, really special to me. I'm proud of myself to stick in there and to have pulled it off round here."
Starting the final day three behind, Bezuidenhout followed a long-range birdie at the third with back-to-back gains from the fifth, only to double-bogey the par-three seventh after finding water off the tee.
The home favourite also bogeyed the eighth to reach the turn in 35 and two behind, as Schaper held a narrow advantage until he started his back nine with a triple-bogey seven at the par-four tenth.
Bezuidenhout followed a close-range birdie at the 11th by draining a 25-footer at the 14th and holing a breaking birdie from a similar distance at the next, with his lead increasing as those around him made mistakes over the final few holes.
Meronk dropped three shots in the space of two holes from the 13th and cancelled out a birdie at the 15th by finding water and bogeying the par-five last, while Schaper followed a bogey at the 16th with another at the last after a lost ball off the tee.
Crocker dropped a shot at the 15th but holed a monster birdie at the 17th to leave him a shot behind heading to the final hole, where he went out of bounds off the tee and sent his fourth shot into the water on his way to a triple-bogey eight.
Bezuidenhout closed out his round with three straight pars, seeing him secure a second worldwide title of a shortened 2020 schedule and his first on the European Tour since his success at last year's Andalucia Masters.
Bland's share of second is his best finish on the European Tour since June 2017, while MacIntyre was joined in joint-sixth by Scott Jamieson, Marcus Armitage, Adri Arnaus and Alexander Levy.
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