Richard Sterne (ranked 6th by Golf Predictor) continued his winning streak at home, capturing the prestigious South African Open for his second consecutive victory on the European Tour. Sterne becomes the eight home winner in a row of the world's second oldest Open, mainly thanks to a missed 8 foot putt from Northern Ireland's Gareth Maybin (ranked 67th) on the 72th hole. That unfortunate horseshoed effort cost Maybin his maiden victory as Sterne birdied the first extra hole to seal another victory.
Ernie Els (ranked 3) put in a storming finish, coming home in 64 on Sunday. Unfortunately he missed a tiddler at the last which would have got him into the play-off. However, he probably rues his 77 on Saturday more as it gave him just too much to do. England's Lee Westwood (ranked 2) faded on the final day, surrendering his two shot overnight lead fairly meekly and finishing in a tie for third. In a good week for Northern Irish golfers, Rory McIlroy overcame a very poor start to also finish tied third and secure his place in the world's top 50. That gets him into the US Masters next year; not bad going for a teenager!
Our top ranked player, the usually reliable Henrik Stenson, finished in a tie for 34th but overall we had 5 golfers in the top 10 this week.
Monday 22 December 2008
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