SA Open 104th Wrap

Midway through Sunday's final round nobody would have predicted that a relative unknown little Englishman, Andy Sullivan, would beat Charl Schwartzel in the 104th South African Open.

Schwartzel, a former Masters champion and one of his nation's most respected golfers, had played some of his finest golf in the earlier rounds at the never-easy Glendower Golf Club near Johannesburg, was way out in front with a five-stroke lead at the start of the final round and was still four strokes clear with just five holes to play as he pursued his first South African Open title.

Then some earlier signs that he was struggling, especially with his driver, heralded a disastrous run down the closing stretch

First he failed to get up and down from a plugged lie in a greenside bunker on the 14th, next he ran up a double bogey six at the par-four 16th with a three putt and then he hit another poor drive at 17 that cost him again and dropped his score to 11-under.

He saved par at the 18th after yet another awry drive for a closing 74 that left him lying level with Sullivan with an 11-under 277 and forced the play-off he so desperately needed, but another poor drive into a clump of trees way right of the fairway at the first play-off hole was eventually going to cost him one of the titles he most covets.

He had no option but to come out sideway onto the fairway and although he hit a masterful approach to within a foot of the hole, a dogged Sullivan, who had lead the first round after a stunning 66, had seemed to blow himself out of the water in the third round with a 74, but had hit back in the final round with a sparkling 67, was at the top of his game and wasn't ready to concede.

He too had driven into some tees, in his case on the left side of the fairway, but he summoned up all his courage, hit a princely approach from 131 meters that landed 12 feet from the hole and then nailed the birdie putt to become the first Englishman to win the world's second oldest open since Tommy Horton did it in 1970.

"To see all those big the names on the trophy and to know that my name is going to be on that trophy forever, is just unbelievable," said the amiable 28-year-old from Nuneaton whose previous claim to fame was winning a trip into space with a hole-in-one at the KLM Open

"To just play on The European Tour is something I've wanted to do my whole life, so to win an event like this just caps it all.

"I have always enjoyed playing in South Africa and to win here is very special. It's been an incredible week and I intend to celebrate this properly. I want to bottle this feeling forever."

Another Englishman, Lee Slattery, launched his 2015 campaign by finishing third on 10-under after shooting a 69 and Spaniard Pablo Martin Benavides was fourth, a shot further back, also with a closing 69.

NOTE: The US PGA Tour's 2015 opener, the Hyuandai Tournament of Champions being played at the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Hawaii will only finish today, Monday, January 12.

Here American Jimmy Walker, Japan's No 1 golfer, Hideki Matsuyama, are leading the field at 17-under after the first three rounds with Korean star Bae Sang-Moon and US Ryder Cup player Patrick Reed two shots back at 15-under in a tie for third place.

TOP 20 SCORES (RSA unless otherwise specified):

277 - Andy Sullivan (ENG) 66 70 74 67
277 - Charl Schwartzel 68 69 66 74
278 - Lee Slattery (ENG) 70 74 65 69
279 - Pablo Martin Benavides (ESP) 71 68 71 69
281 - Alessandro Tadini (ITA) 71 68 73 69, Thomas Aiken 70 71 70 70, Jared Harvey 71 69 70 71, Gary Stal (FRA) 75 66 69 71, Paul Maddy (ENG) 71 71 68 71, Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) 73 68 67 73
282 - Jason Scrivener (AUS) 73 72 66 71, David Drysdale (SCO) 68 72 68 74
283 - Raphael Jacquelin (FRA) 69 76 72 66, Hennie Otto 72 71 70 70
284 - Trevor Fisher Jnr 72 73 71 68, Neil Schietekat 74 72 68 70, James Morrison (ENG) 71 69 72 72, Rikard Karlberg (SWE) 70 70 71 73, Branden Grace 71 71 69 73
285 - Matthew Nixon (ENG) 72 69 72 72, Ernie Els 67 77 69 72, Carlos Del Moral (ESP) 72 72 69 72, Lasse Jensen(DEN) 67 71 72 75, Richard Sterne 67 74 69 75

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