South Africa’s Shaun Norris was overcome with emotion after claiming a thrilling one-stroke victory in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek on Sunday.
Norris had earlier made a strong charge through the field, sparked by an eagle on the second hole, and closed with a 67 to lead in the clubhouse on 13-under par and tied with several players.
But it ended up being only South Africa’s Ryan van Velzen who had a realistic chance of catching him as he teed off the 18th tied for the lead. As Norris warmed up on the driving range for a possible play-off, Van Velzen hit his approach into the water surrounding the treacherous 18th green and went on to make bogey.
“Unbelievable. Words can’t describe the feelings going through me at the moment. I’m over the moon,” said Norris after claiming his second DP World Tour title.
“I only knew I’d shot 67 after I made the last putt. I was so stuck in my head focusing on every shot and doing what I needed to do. At the end of the day it worked out nicely.”
Van Velzen closed with a 72 to share second place with England’s John Parry (69) and Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult (74) on 12-under par.
Before teeing off on Sunday, Norris had told his brother and caddie Kyle that if they could be under par through the first five holes, they may stand a chance. And it was an eagle on the par-five second that gave him that chance.
“That eagle was key. It’s massive to get off to a good start and put yourself in a nice rhythm,” he said. A composed back nine featuring three birdies further strengthened his chances as he was the only player amongst the top four on the leaderboard who didn’t make a bogey on the back nine.
Norris was also overjoyed to win at a Leopard Creek course that holds a special place in every South African golfer’s heart.
“This title means everything to me. To win here at Leopard Creek, which is always in spectacular condition and where we’ve had such good champions such as Ernie Els, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen – to now put my name on this trophy is a blessing. This changes a few things for me. I’ve got so much to look forward to over the next few years. But now it’s time for a holiday.”
Scores
275 - Shaun Norris 67 70 71 67
276 - John Parry 67 71 69 69, Ryan Van Velzen 70 69 65 72, Marcus Kinhult 65 68 69 74
277 - Angel Ayora 71 70 65 71, Darius van Driel 67 71 67 72
278 - Keenan Davidse 69 68 73 68, Andy Sullivan 64 73 71 70, Dale Whitnell 69 67 71 71, Martin Couvra 71 66 70 71
279 - Nathan Kimsey 67 72 72 68, Simon Forsstrom 73 65 71 70, Casey Jarvis 65 72 70 72, Matthew Southgate 70 67 69 73
280 - Ugo Coussaud 69 72 71 68, Marcel Schneider 71 72 69 68, Charl Schwartzel 71 66 74 69, Romain Langasque 68 70 68 74
281 - Nacho Elvira 68 71 76 66, Julien Guerrier 68 75 72 66, Alex Fitzpatrick 65 72 72 72, Yurav Premlall 73 66 70 72
282 - Wenyi Ding 68 69 70 75
283 - Andrea Pavan 67 69 76 71, Brandon Stone 67 72 73 71, Tom McKibbin 69 73 69 72, Joost Luiten 71 67 68 77
284 - Adrian Otaegui 71 67 78 68, Nikhil Rama 68 71 77 68, Frederic Lacroix 70 67 76 71, Herman Loubser 74 66 73 71, Manuel Elvira 72 69 72 71, Pieter Moolman 70 72 71 71, Hamish Brown 75 66 67 76, Dean Burmester 69 67 70 78
285 - Benjamin Hebert 73 69 74 69, Richard Mansell 72 71 71 71, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 75 65 73 72, Ryggs Johnston 68 73 72 72, Joel Moscatel 72 66 74 73, Oliver Lindell 71 69 70 75
286 - Sean Crocker 72 71 73 70, Scott Jamieson 71 71 72 72, Aldrich Potgieter 72 70 72 72, Erik van Rooyen 72 67 73 74, Laurie Canter 71 70 70 75
287 - Kristoffer Reitan 68 74 77 68, Dylan Frittelli 72 68 76 71, Jorge Campillo 71 72 71 73, Gavin Green 71 72 70 74, Jens Dantorp 70 69 73 75, Benjamin Follett-Smith 71 69 70 77
288 - Rupert Kaminski 71 72 73 72, Jacques Blaauw 73 70 71 74
289 - Ockie Strydom 71 70 78 70, Jack Senior 71 71 74 73, Kieron van Wyk 70 73 73 73, Matthew Baldwin 70 73 73 73
291 - Matti Schmid 68 73 75 75, Lucas Bjerregaard 72 71 68 80
293 - Bjorn Akesson 74 69 73 77
294 - Kyle McClatchie 72 70 78 74
296 - Louis Albertse 73 68 72 83
297 - Matthew Spacey 73 70 79 75, Pierre Pineau 74 69 76 78, Alexander Levy 74 68 72 83
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