Christiaan Bezuidenhout claimed back to back wins on the Sunshine Tour with his 18-under 270 at the Gary Player Country Club enough to secure the South African Open.
Bezuidenhout carried his excellent form from the Alfred Dunhill Championship to Sun City carding just three bogeys across four rounds.
Bezuidenhout claims back to back European Tour titles
Welshman Jamie Donaldson had held a share of the lead with Bezuidenhout after two rounds, but his challenge faded in the face of remarkable consistency from the South African. Donaldson earned a spot in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
Another local Dylan Frittelli posted a final round of 1-under 71 to finish third at 11-under for the tournament.
The victory is Bezuidenhout’s fourth on the Sunshine Tour and third tournament win on the European Tour.
“It’s unbelievable to stand here with an SA Open win. It is every South African golfer’s dream to win the national championship,” he told the post-tournament press conference.
“I have fought hard today. The front nine things did not go my way. I am just happy to come out with a win.”
Bezuidenhout had a jittery start after taking a more conservative approach, but after a dropped shot at the eighth with the finish in sight he went for the kill, birdied the 10th, 11th and 12th which allowed him to ease to another championship.
“It was massive. I knew I just needed to make pars coming in after that. Today was tough, I had to be patient,” he said.
Esteemed 41st in the world ahead of the South African Open, Bezuidenhout was the highest-ranked player in the field and started as the firm favourite, but did well to handle to the burden of the tag and proved his superiority on the course. He brought his A-game off the tee and putted with consistency.
The SA Open wraps up the European Tour’s African safari with the World Tour Championships concluding the 2020 season next week.
SA Open selected final scores
Leading scores after the final round of European Tour/Sunshine Tour South African Open on Sunday (RSA unless noted):
270 – Christiaan Bezuidenhout 67-67-67-69
275 – Jamie Donaldson (WAL) 71-63-72-69
277 – Dylan Frittelli 68-68-70-71
278 – Dean Burmester 67-69-71-71
279 – JC Ritchie 70-71-66-72
280 – Hennie du Plessis 70-70-68-72, Marcel Siem (GER) 74-68-68-70, Scott Vincent (ZIM) 72-69-67-72
281 – Julien Guerrier (FRA) 73-69-69-70
282 – Conor Syme (SCO) 72-70-69-71
Selected
283 – Wilco Nienaber 69-74-68-72
