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Christiaan Bezuidenhout poses with the Alfred Dunhill Championship trophy.
Carl Fourie / Sunshine Tour / Gallo Images
South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout He kept his cool as other challengers faltered and won the Alfred Dunhill Championship by four strokes at the breezy Leopard Creek Country Club on Sunday.
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The 26-year-old triumphed for the second time on the European Tour by making a final round 69 of three under par for a total of 274 on a field that borders the Kruger National Park Game Reserve.
Richard Bland (70) of England, American Sean Crocker (72), Adrian Meronk (76) of Poland and South African Jayden Schaper (75) shared second place with 278.
“This course is close to my heart,” said an excited Bezuidenhout after adding to his European trophy having won the Andalucía Masters in Spain last year.
“It is a tournament that I desperately wanted to win so this is a very special day for me. I am proud of myself for having achieved it.
“Aside from a five-to-seven double bogey, my first slip on that hole after three pairs between Thursday and Saturday, I was very happy with my final round.”
Bezuidenhout, the lowest-ranked golfer on the course at 61, made long birdie putts at 14 and 15 to build a two-shot lead.
Playing cautiously as a strong wind unsettled many rivals, the South African saved the final three holes for an ultimately comfortable win.
Starting shot hit buggy
He made a level par 35 after three birdies, a bogey and a double bogey, then made three birdies on inside nine.
Crocker was just a shot away when he started at 18, but a booming bump swerved to the left, hit the roof of a moving buggy and flew out of bounds.
The American, visibly upset, took his fourth shot into the water around the green and finished with a three out of eight.
Meronk, who had topped the standings for three rounds as he sought to become the first Polish winner on the European Tour, fainted after dropping three shots over two holes.
It took four shots to get to the green at 13 and two putts for a bogey before double bogeying 14 after an approach shot at par four.
German-born, Polish-raised Meronk found water in the final hole and a bogey six cost him the only run of second place.
The three-event South African swing of the European Tour concludes next week with the South African Open, which was first held in 1903 and is the second-oldest national golf championship after the British Open.
Leading scores after the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship jointly sanctioned by the European Tour / Sunshine Tour at par 72 Leopard Creek Country Club near Malelane, South Africa, on Sunday (RSA unless otherwise noted):
274 – Christiaan Bezuidenhout 69-68-68-69
278 – Richard Bland (ENG) 67-67-74-70, Sean Crocker (USA) 70-68-68-72, Adrian Meronk (POL) 65-66-71-76, Jayden Schaper 69-67- 67-75
279 – Marcus Armitage (ENG) 71-71-67-70, Adri Arnaus (ESP) 70-67-69-73, Robert McIntyre (SCO) 72-70-70-67, Scott Jamieson (SCO) 66-71- 72-70, Alexander Levy (FRA) 70-72-68-69
280 – Fabricio Zanetti (PAR) 71-71-68-70
Selected:
281 – Wilco Nienaber 71-68-72-70
289 – Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) 74-69-74-72
