Darren Clarke survived final hole drama to clinch a two-shot victory in the $294,500 Sun City Pro-am today.
He had to take a penalty drop at the par-five 18th after hitting his ball into water beyond the green on the testing Gary Player Country Club course.
But Clarke escaped with a bogey and his round of 71 for a 14-under-par total of 274 kept him clear of closest challengers Retief Goosen (69) and Tjaart van der Walt (66). The South African pair shared second place.
Clarke's win turned out to be a lot more nerve-racking than it might have been because the Northern Ireland player had a comfortable three-shot cushion before his final tee shot.
While the long-hitting Goosen predictably went for the green in two, an eagle his only realistic chance of winning, Clarke elected to lay up short of the water surrounding the green with a nine-iron. But his ball found a downslope.
Clarke took a drop from in front of the green and hit his fifth shot to 10 feet. He sank the putt.
Goosen stayed in touch throughout the inward nine, but a dropped shot at 17, when he three-putted for a five, gave Clarke a three-shot advantage with one hole to play.
It was the second time that Clarke had missed the cut in his first tournament of the season and then gone on to win the second. - Reuters