JOBURG OPEN: ANDERS HANSEN held his nerve on the final hole of the Joburg Open to claim a birdie and win the title from local boy Andrew McLardy yesterday.
The Dane, who was playing in the penultimate group at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, was level at 14-under going into the par-five 18th hole, and gave himself a great chance of winning by putting his second shot 25 feet from the hole.
He missed the eagle chance, but made birdie from three feet to finish on 15-under 269 and see off South African McLardy, who blew several chances to pick up shots over the closing holes.
Needing a birdie himself on the last, McLardy made a mess of his tee-shot, pulling it into the trees to blow his chance after he led the tournament overnight with Charl Schwartzel and David Drysdale.
Scotland's Drysdale ended his tournament with a 69 and a total 271, with Danny Willet, Tyrone van Aswegen and Schwartzel ending a further shot back.
Three other players finished the week on 11-under 273, including English pair Richard McEvoy and David Dixon, while the round of the day belonged to South African Charl Coetzee, who carded a six-under 66, to finish his tournament at nine-under 275.
Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey closed with a level par 71 to finish tied for 12th on nine under par. He earned just over €15,000.
Hansen though did enough through his final round, finishing in five-under 66 to claim the €174,350 first prize on his way to a third European Tour title.
However, it looked very different on day one when he finished with a level-par 71 to sit eight shots off the lead.
"It means a lot to win, obviously," he said, "because that's of course what we're here for. Especially after the first day, where the first two holes I started double bogey-bogey and I was thinking 'what is this'?
"But I turned that round around and got off to a flying start the second day.
"I couldn't keep it going, but that sort of helped me put things into perspective thinking about the next day.
"I thought I needed to keep the third round going and again got off to a good start. And then today I thought I had to come out and shoot five under. I thought 15 under was going to be the winning score, so I was right."
The 38-year-old's biggest move of the co-sanctioned European and Sunshine Tour event yesterday came on the front nine where he claimed five birdies, including four in four to make the turn in 31.
But a bogey on the par-three 12th hole saw him slip back before he hit back on the final hole.
"I played really nicely on the front nine there and hit a lot of good shots, so it was really great," he continued.
"It (the bogey) is obviously a momentum breaker, I didn't hit a great tee-shot, and it cost me.
"(On the last) I was focused on just hitting a good drive and I did that. I hit a great second shot and the two-putt was enough, so it's great."
Englishman Willett, who began his round with a bogey before finishing birdie-birdie for a round of 68, said: "It was a good finish. I turned in one over and I was not really playing very well and then I tried to get it going on the back nine. I had a really good finish then down 17 and 18, so yeah, I'm quite happy.
"A top five this week gets me into next week at Abu Dhabi, which I wouldn't have got in otherwise.
"I'm just trying to play well this year, keep plodding along and hopefully keep my card, so we'll see what happens."
The biggest cheer of the day was reserved for two-time major winner Retief Goosen, who holed a three-iron from 198 metres for an albatross on the par-five 18 to end a disappointing round that included a remarkable nine bogeys in a 74, a total of seven-under 277.
Defending champion Richard Sterne, bidding for a third consecutive European Tour title, made a valiant attempt to defend his title, finishing with a 68, nine under overall, while Englishman Chris Wood ended with a 73.
EUROPEAN TOUR JOBURG OPEN
(Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC)
Final totals (Irish in bold, British unless stated, par 71): 269 - Anders Hansen (Den) 71 68 64 66 (€174,350). 270 - Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 65 68 69 68 (€126,500). 271 - David Drysdale 65 66 71 69 (€76,120). 272 - Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 68 71 63 70, Danny Willett 67 66 71 68, Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa) 69 65 70 68. 273 - David Dixon 68 69 68 68, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 69 68 66 70, Richard McEvoy 69 65 72 67. 274 - Estanislao Goya (Arg) 70 69 69 66, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 71 66 67 70. 275 - Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 69 69 66 71, Graham De laet (Can) 72 66 68 69, Taco Remkes (Ned) 67 70 69 69, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 67 70 69 69, James Kamte (Rsa) 69 69 66 71, Michael Hoey (N Ire) 64 68 72 71 (€ 15,551), Richard Sterne (Rsa) 71 66 70 68, Charl Coetzee (Rsa) 68 67 75 65. 276 - Brett Liddle (Rsa) 67 70 69 70, Jean Hugo (Rsa) 67 72 67 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 65 69 70 72. 277 - Oliver Bekker (Rsa) 67 65 73 72, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 67 73 71 66, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 68 65 74, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 69 69 67 72, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 72 64 70 71. 278 - Brandon Pieters (Rsa) 68 71 70 69, Gary Lockerbie 69 68 72 69, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 69 67 71, Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 66 69 75 68, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 63 76 72 67, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 70 67 69 72, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 66 72 68 72. 279 - Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 69 66 72 72, Alan McLean 71 65 71 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 66 72 72 69. 280 - Chris Gane 70 70 71 69, Martin Wiegele (Aut) 68 72 72 68, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 74 65 70 71, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 69 69 71 71, James Morrison 67 68 74 71, Gary Clark 72 67 68 73, Dion Fourie (Rsa) 68 70 71 71, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 72 64 73 71. 281 - John Mellor 72 67 70 72, Carl Suneson (Spa) 67 73 72 69, Andre Bossert (Swi) 70 69 74 68, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 73 65 75 68, Doug McGuigan 69 71 70 71, Cameron Johnston (Rsa) 72 66 73 70. 282 - Hennie Otto (Rsa) 67 73 75 67, Antti Ahokas (Fin) 72 64 72 74, Tyrone Ferreira (Rsa) 68 72 70 72, Phillip Archer 69 70 73 70, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 68 70 73 71. 283 - Michiel Bothma (Rsa) 70 70 69 74, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 67 71 74 71, Iain Pyman 71 69 69 74, Wallie Coetsee (Rsa) 72 64 76 71, Keith Horne (Rsa) 68 70 70 75, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spa) 65 71 73 74, Simon Griffiths 73 64 71 75, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 65 71 74 73. 284 - Chris Wood 69 70 72 73, Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa) 70 70 73 71, Jake Roos (Rsa) 69 69 73 73, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 71 71 73, TC Charamba (Zim) 70 67 77 70, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 65 78 70, Kevin Stone (Rsa) 69 70 71 74, Christopher Doak 68 70 74 72. 285 - Bobby Lincoln (Rsa) 68 72 73 72. 286 - Neil Cheetham 73 67 73 73, Kasper Linnet Jorgensen (Den) 68 72 74 72, Michele Reale (Ita) 66 74 73 73. 287 - David Carter 67 72 73 75. 288 - Sam Little 72 68 74 74, Michael Curtis (Zim) 74 65 75 74. 289 - John E Morgan 69 70 72 78. 290 - Edrich Jansen (Rsa) 70 70 73 77. 291 - Gregory Molteni (Ita) 73 65 77 76. 292 - Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 68 72 79 73.
US PGA MERCEDES-BENZ CHAMPIONSHIP
(Kapalua Plantation GC, Hawaii)
Leading third round totals (US unless stated, par 73): 200 - Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 67 68 65. 206 - Justin Leonard 74 67 65, DJ Trahan 70 66 70. 207 - Kenny Perry 68 71 68, Anthony Kim 71 68 68, Davis Love 69 70 68, Camilo Villegas (Col) 74 67 66. 208 - KJ Choi (Kor) 71 71 66. 209 - Boo Weekley 70 70 69, Johnson Wagner 68 71 70. 210 - Sean O'Hair 69 70 71, Zach Johnson 71 75 64, Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 69 73. 211 - Will MacKenzie 72 70 69. 212 - Dustin Johnson 72 72 68, Brian Gay 72 70 70, Stewart Cink 74 67 71. 213 - Adam Scott (Aus) 73 67 73, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 69 70 74, Greg Kraft 72 73 68, Chez Reavie 75 70 68. 214 - Steve Lowery 69 75 70, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 72 72 70.
ROYAL TROPHY
(Amata Spring Country Club, Bangkok)
Final results (Team Europe first): Singles: Soren Hansen (Den) halved with Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn); Paul Lawrie (Sco) bt Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 3 and 2; Nick Dougherty (Eng) bt Charlie Wi (Kor) 1 up; Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) lost to
Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 5 and 4; Oliver Wilson (Eng) bt Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 3 and 2; Johan Edfors (Swe) bt SK Ho (Kor) 5 and 4; Niclas Fasth (Swe) lost to to Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) 7 and 6; Paul McGinley (Ire) lost to Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 5 and 4. Asia bt Europe 10-6.
