Ken Borland

To lay up and play it safe or to take on the shallow, sloping 18^th green is always the question golfers face at the end of their round at Leopard Creek, and on Sunday young Ryan van Velzen made the wrong choice and paid the price as he let the Alfred Dunhill Championship title slip from his grasp.

Shaun Norris, who was six shots back at the start of the final round, was the beneficiary in Van Velzen’s mental implosion, claiming arguably the most prestigious title of his career, as his tremendous five-under-par 67 took him to 13-under-par for the tournament.

Van Velzen was on 13-under as he reached the final hole, a maiden DP World Tour title in sight in just his third tournament as a fully exempt card-holder on the European circuit. A fantastic drive saw him split the fairway and take advantage of the downhill slope. But then the 23-year-old decided to go for the green with his second shot, and his ball bounced off the firm surface and over the back into the water surrounding the famous island green.

Needing a birdie to win the championship, the sensible play for Van Velzen was surely to lay up down the left of the fairway, opening up a comfortable wedge with lots of green to work with towards the back right pin-location. But instead of having a 15-footer to win, with par enough to put him in a playoff, Van Velzen was left with a high-pressure 15-footer for par just to stay alive in the tournament.

Unfortunately for one of South Africa’s great young talents, the putt slid past the hole and he was left in a tie for second place with John Parry (69) and overnight leader Marcus Kinholt on 12-under-par. Van Velzen shot level-par 72 on Sunday, going out in 34 as he birdied the third, fourth and sixth holes, but also dropped shots on the par-five second and par-three seventh. On the back nine, his error of judgement on the last hole was his second bogey, while the only birdie he could gather as the pressure mounted was on the par-four 14^th.

Norris, meanwhile, was intent on making a charge. The 42-year-old South African eagled the par-five second to immediately climb up the leaderboard. He picked up further birdies on the sixth and eighth holes, but they sandwiched a double-bogey on the par-three seventh, when he landed in the water.

Norris was inspired, however, on the back nine as he birdied the 11^th,13^th and 15^th holes, and then parred his way home in a bogey-free finish. He then had to wait more than an hour to see if his clubhouse lead of -13 would be overtaken.

“I tried to stay calm, just asking my wife how the kids are and what are our dinner plans. I had a target of 14 or 15-under in mind, thinking if I can post that early, then the leaders will have to chase that and the last four or five holes at Leopard Creek are very tricky. But I didn’t think 13-under would be strong enough,” Norris said after winning his second DP World Tour title and his fourth in South Africa.

“Words can’t describe the unbelievable feelings that are going through me. Thanks to God, my wife and my family because this last year has been very tough, with lots of ups and downs, it’s been all over the place. I’m over the moon.

“I stuck to my own thing, I focused on every shot and doing what I needed to do. The good start was massive, it puts you into a nice rhythm and I was very happy with the eagle. But then I made a blunder on seven, but I told myself not to worry about it, just let it happen,” an obviously emotional Norris said.

Angel Ayora, just 20 years old and playing his first season on the DP World Tour, raced to 14-under-par with four birdies in his first five holes. But a bogey on the par-four eighth would portend a troubled back nine. The Spaniard still reached the final hole on 12-under-par though, but was another to choose badly and fall victim to the folly of youth as he too went for the green in two from far back in the fairway, also landing in the water and finishing with a bogey.

That left him in a tie for fifth place with Darius van Driel on 11-under-par. South Africa’s Keenan Davidse produced one of the best rounds of the day, a 68, to finish on 10-under-par, in a tie for seventh with Andy Sullivan (70), Dale Whitnell (71) and Martin Couvra (71).

Helen Kreuzer was able to make the 10ft putt for birdie on the first playoff hole that she had missed shortly before in regulation play on the par-five 18^th, giving the German her first professional title as she won the Fidelity ADT Ladies Challenge at the Blue Valley Golf Estate on Friday.

Kreuzer reached the 72^nd hole on 12-under-par, back-to-back threes on the par-four 16^th and 17^th holes seeing her catch up with Tina Mazarino at the top of the leaderboard. But while the missed putt forced her to settle for par and a playoff with the Norwegian, Kreuzer was then able to take advantage of the wide fairways at the Gary Player design, and went for the green in two after a great drive, which would have pleased him.

“I hit a really good drive on the first playoff hole on 18 and decided to go for it with a three-wood. I was just off the green and I managed to get up-and-down, sinking the putt I missed for birdie during my round,” Kreuzer explained afterwards.

“It’s my first professional win so I feel amazing, the only other thing that comes close is maybe winning the national championship at college with Lynn University.”

With Mazarino producing a brilliant round of 65 to overtake those who had set the pace after the first two rounds, Kreuzer had to play at her best to catch the 23-year-old.

Kreuzer was superb on the front nine, playing in the final group with leader Ellen Hutchinson-Kay, going out in just 30 strokes. She began her round birdie-par-eagle and further birdies on the fifth, eighth and ninth holes saw her grab the lead.

But she then suffered a double setback when she bogeyed the par-four 10^th and 11^th holes.

“I was really on top of my game, hitting the ball close and my putter was hot. Ellen also played really well on the front nine, and it was good to be in the final group with her because that kept me going and I always felt I needed a few more birdies to get ahead of her.

“But then on 10 there was a very tough pin, I hit my approach a little long and bogey was not the end of the world there. And then on 11 a three-foot par putt just lipped out. You then have to tell yourself to stay in the moment and keep playing,” Kreuzer said.

The 25-year-old from Frankfurt certainly showed her mettle with that late pair of birdies.

“I was really excited about playing in the final group and keen to see what the day would bring. It was a great group, we had a lot of fun and all enjoyed ourselves, just taking it shot-by-shot. I was very pleased to pull through for the win. It was a big achievement, and now being able to play in the two Ladies European Tour co-sanctioned events on the Sunshine Tour is what I came for,” Kreuzer said.

While Hutchinson-Kay reached the turn on 11-under, she struggled on the back nine with bogeys on the 11^th and 14^th holes leaving her in third place.

Another German, Verena Gimmy, made a late charge up the leaderboard with a scintillating 64 to finish in a tie for fourth on eight-under-par with compatriot Carolin Kauffmann (69) and leading South African Kiera Floyd (68).

Pretoria Country Club’s Danielle du Toit also had an excellent final day, shooting a 66 to share seventh place on seven-under with Romy Meekers (69) and Ariane Klotz (72), who was second going into the last round.

It was a day to test your patience at Leopard Creek on Sunday as thundershowers limited play to just over two hours of action, restricting the great title showdown between Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel to just seven holes which failed to break the deadlock between the two longtime friends.

Leaders Oosthuizen and Schwartzel, together with Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who began the final round five shots behind, teed off at 10am and were able to play four holes before the first storms moved over Malelane.

In that time, both Oosthuizen (2^nd hole) and Schwartzel (3^rd) managed to collect a birdie, while Bezuidenhout made his presence felt with birdies on the par-five second and par-four third holes to cut the gap to four strokes.

The lingering threat of lightning meant play was only able to resume at 4pm, and even then it only lasted 43 rather miserably wet minutes before thunder rumbled again and play was called off for the day.

Not much had changed in that time, although Oosthuizen must have had his heart in his mouth after he hit his tee-shot on the par-three seventh into the water. He showed his mettle, however, as he stroked in a 25ft putt to limit the damage to just a bogey.

Having just birdied the short par-four sixth after a lovely approach shot to six feet, it meant Oosthuizen dropped back to join Schwartzel on 16-under.

All three members of the final group began the final round smoothly, finding the fairways off the tee and hitting precision iron-shots. Bezuidenhout, however, had more success with the putter and he further cut the lead to three strokes as, straight after the lengthy weather delay, he rolled in a 20ft birdie putt on the par-three fifth hole.

Andy Sullivan was also cruising with two birdies in his first six holes, but he then bogeyed the par-four eighth to slip back to 11-under, five behind, alongside Germany’s Matti Schmid, who was three-under for his round.

Of the other South Africans besides the top three, Thriston Lawrence is accelerating up the leaderboard and is currently tied for eighth on eight-under, four-under for his round with three holes to play.

Jayden Schaper made a fast birdie-birdie start, but then went bogey-bogey and is level-par at the turn, also on eight-under overall.

Casey Jarvis sandwiched birdies at the first and third holes with a bogey at the par-five second, and then had a bit of a car crash on the ninth, with a double-bogey that dropped him to seven-under for the tournament, alongside Wynand Dingle.

The final round will only resume at 9am on Monday to allow the greenkeepers to ready the waterladen course.

Dean Burmester’s final round in the South African Open at Blair Atholl on Sunday began with him deciding to play aggressively, accepting that he would either post a brilliant score that would bring joy or a terrible total that would see him bomb out of contention. His round ended with him fighting back the tears as he claimed the title with a marvellous four-under-par 68.

Burmester began the last day tied for fourth, two strokes off the lead which was shared by young fellow South Africans Jayden Schaper and Ryan van Velzen. He ended up winning by three strokes as neither Schaper nor Van Velzen could stay under-par in the final round, and none of the other contenders could match a 68 on another torrid day of fierce heat and fast greens on the longest course in DP World Tour history.

“I told my caddie Jason Reynolds at the start of the day that I wanted to free it up today, it was either going to be a 65 or an 85 today because we were going to go for everything,” an emotional Burmester said after his biggest victory and his fourth on the DP World Tour. The 34-year-old also won last week’s Joburg Open, pulling off a rare double.

“Fortunately I just flushed it from the start and I could see the greens were really starting to firm up. I said to Jason that two hours from now, they would be nearly impossible to play so we should just post a score, sit back and watch.

“On the 18^th green I was just trying not to cry. I’m still trying. I am super-emotional, it’s been a long road to get here. I have both my national opens now and it feels surreal, it’s just super-special to do the SA double,” the Zimbabwe-born Burmester said after being presented with the most prestigious trophy in South African golf.

On a tightly-contested final day in which the toughness of the course made it extremely difficult for someone to really pull away, it was going to need nerves of steel and the mettle to seize the key moment when it presented itself for the winner to separate himself.

For Burmester, that moment happened on the 16^th. He had been hanging on to a one-stroke lead for most of the round after he sank a 40ft birdie putt on the seventh hole, but on the second-toughest hole on the final day, he hit a great approach to 10 feet and curled in the birdie putt.

He then rammed home his advantage on the par-three 17^th, a beautiful pin-high tee shot setting up a second consecutive birdie.

“Sixteen is when things swung for me. I had a perfect number from the fairway and, having missed a shortish chance on 14, it was fantastic to sink a 10-foot double-breaker on 16,” Burmester recalled.

“On 17 I hit a pitching wedge, again a lovely number, and I must credit my whole team for their great work in preparing me to perform under pressure because it is not my favourite club.”

Being the classy person he is, Burmester was also full of praise and sympathy for the pair of 22-year-old East Randers, Schaper and Van Velzen, who certainly did not hand victory on a plate to their more experienced compatriot.

Van Velzen finished in the tie for second on eight-under with Renato Paratore (70) and Jesper Svensson (71), his five birdies being undone by two double-bogeys and a bogey. He fought hard though, until the 14^th when he found both a fairway and a greenside bunker and then three-putted to drop two shots.

Schaper finished on seven-under in a tie for fifth after a 74 that included just three birdies but five bogeys.

“Winning is hard for young golfers and I know how Jayden and Ryan feel because I was there too. I feel for those two young guys at the back, it takes time and it takes a lot before you learn how to win.

“It was cool that I was drawn with Louis de Jager, he and I have a lot of experience and we were able to pull each other along. He’s been a prolific winner on the Sunshine Tour and we were both able to relax,” Burmester said.

De Jager played well but his putter did not help him much as he posted a 73 to also finish in the tie for fifth with Alejandro del Rey (68), Fredric Lacroix (69), Matteo Manassero (72) and Schaper.