Sunshine Tour: Daniel van Tonder snatches dramatic win on home soil at SA Open Championship
The event was stripped of its DP World Tour status last week after the discovery of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and the subsequent travel ban on South Africa; Daniel van Tonder claimed a one-shot victory in the Sunshine Tour event.
Sunday 5 December 2021 16:53, UK
Daniel van Tonder secured his eighth Sunshine Tour title with a dramatic victory on home soil at the SA Open Championship.
Van Tonder, who registered a maiden DP World Tour title earlier this year at the Kenya Savannah Classic, posted a final-round 65 at Gary Player Country Club to snatch a one-shot win.
The world No 151, without a worldwide top 10 since April going into the week, mixed eight birdies with a lone bogey on the final day to finish on 16 under and a shot ahead of Oliver Bekker.
Van Tonder rolled in a 10-footer at the first and bounced back from a bogey at the fourth to post three birdies in a four-hole stretch from the fifth and a chip-in from off the 10th green.
The 30-year-old picked up another shot at the 11th and fired his tee shot at the par-three 16th to inside six feet to add another birdie, as Bekker birdied his final three holes to sign for a final-round 66 and move alongside Van Tonder on 15 under.
Sunshine Tour Golf
A play-off looked a possibility when Van Tonder - needing a birdie at the par-five last for victory - left himself some 20 feet from the flag with his third shot, only for him to rattle in his putt to take home the trophy.
Henni du Plessis birdied his last three holes to finish four strokes back in third spot, with Dean Burmester jumping into fourth after back-to-back 66s and Christiaan Bezuidenhout ending his title defence in tied-sixth.
The event was originally scheduled to be the second of three consecutive co-sanctioned events between the Sunshine Tour and the DP World Tour, only for the tournament to be altered after the discovery of the Omicron Covid-19 variant in the region.
The historic tournament was stripped of its DP World Tour status and offered a significantly reduced prize purse due to the travel ban on the region, resulting in mass withdrawals of non-South African players, with next week's Alfred Dunhill Championship cancelled because of coronavirus.
