| Schwartzel takes title |
17 JANUARY 2010: AN in-form Charl Schwartzel made it two in a row, taking the Joburg Open title on Sunday – six strokes ahead of Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland and South African Keith Horne.
Charl Schwartzel takes the trophy
The tournament is the richest of the four Sunshine Tour events co-sanctioned by the European Tour, and is the fourth in the 2010 Race to Dubai. The tournament is a co-sanctioned Order of Merit event on the PGA European Tour and Sunshine Tour, and is sponsored by the City of Johannesburg. Schwartzel ended on a total of 261. Clarke and Horne both finished on finished on 267, with England’s Danny Willet coming in on 270 along with local pro James Kamte. Runaway victoryFor just a moment on the third hole, Charl Schwartzel looked vulnerable before he pulled away for a runaway victory.“This week has been probably the best golf I have ever played,” said Schwartzel. “You don’t go round courses like these and only make three bogeys in the week without playing well.” Schwartzel made bogey on the 434-metre (475-yard) par-four hole after he had been seen sitting nervously in players’ lounge ahead of his final round, despite his overnight four-stroke lead over Northern Ireland’s Clarke. “It’s not easy leading by four shots,” said Schwartzel. “Your mind can start playing games, and while you feel if you can just carry on playing the way you have been, you should win it, you still actually have to do it.” 
In fine form, Charl Schwartzel makes it two in a row
He made another birdie on eight to turn at one-under for his round, and then birdies at 10 and 14 took him clear of the field as he coasted home for his second victory in two weeks after he won the Africa Open. He wasn’t done, either, and he underlined his dominance with a pair of birdies to finish on 17 and 18 – and the one on 18 came despite a nervy eagle putt which stopped three feet from the hole to leave him a bit of a tester for his moment of triumph. In a share of second behind him was Horne: The South African finished fast with a seven-under 64, the best round of the day, and his eight birdies and a bogey lifted him to 17-under 267 together with Clarke, who eagled the 18th to climb to second with his 68. Horne had a putt for eagle himself on 18, and it finished fractionally short. “It would have been good to make that to make sure of second,” he said. Willett of England had a battling round of 68 to finish in a share of fourth with Kamte, who also closed with a 68. In a tie for sixth on 12-under 272 were England’s Peter Whiteford, Joost Luiten of the Netherlands, Soren Hansen of Denmark and South African Hennie Otto. But in the end, it’s difficult to look beyond the dominance Schwartzel has shown over the last two weeks. He leads the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit by over R2.4-million from Horne, and it is almost inconceivable that he will be caught by the end of the year. “If I keep on playing like this, there could be some big things for me,” said Schwartzel. “With the confidence I’ve got right now, you pretty much feel like you can win anything. And the way I played this week, I don’t need to stand back for anyone. I’ve just got to treat the big events like this. It’s just the score that counts at the end of the day.” Souce: Sunshine Tour |
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