Schwartzel wins Africa Open

CHARL Schwartzel bogeyed the 18th hole in the final round of €1-million Africa Open at the 6 191m par-73 East London Golf Club on Sunday, but he had done enough to take the title by a single stroke from South African compatriot Thomas Aiken.

He finished on 20-under 272 after a final round of 67 in the tournament co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the European Tour, the third event in the 2010 Race to Dubai.’It was not the ideal tee shot when I pushed it right on 18,’ he said, ‘but I said to my caddie that we should take five and leave Thomas with a birdie to force a playoff.’There was a brief moment when Schwartzel thought Aiken had birdied 17 and drawn level, but the big scoreboard had it wrong for about three minutes as the eventual champion looked on anxiously from the score-recorder’s booth.It was Schwartzel’s fourth European Tour win – he took the 2004-5 Alfred Dunhill Championship, the 2007 Open de Espana and the 2008 Madrid Masters – and it capped a run of form which left him wondering week-in and week-out when form would be converted to victory.’I really just needed a little bit of luck,’ he said. ‘I have been playing well, and when I shot 70 on Friday, I had no luck at all. Who know what that round could have been.’Aiken, who led into the final round with Trevor Fisher Jnr, was left regretting a double-bogey six on the innocuous-looking 303-metre fifth.That let Schwartzel open up a gap which was eventually too big to close. He had a three-stroke advantage on the 16th tee and then had to wait things out as Aiken made a birdie on 15 to close things to two down the stretch.In the end, Aiken had a 15-footer for birdie, and, although he got it close, he was unable to force the playoff.Behind Aiken, Jbe’ Kruger and Fisher shared third on 18-under 274, with Australia’s Rick Kulacz, England’s James Morrison and South African Chris Swanepoel in fifth one shot further back.Round of the day belonged to Branden Grace of South Africa, who made a valiant charge at the lead with his seven-under-par 66 that included three eagles.’I just couldn’t keep the bogeys and other rubbish off my card,’ he said after he finished on 16-under 276.He ended up sharing eighth with fellow South Africans James Kingston and Michiel Bothma, Swede Pelle Edberg and England’s Miles Tunnicliff.In the end, Schwartzel’s consistency was what won the title for him: ‘I think I dropped just five shots the whole week,’ he said.And there were indeed, just three bogeys and a double on his card for the tournament. – Supergolf