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Christiaan Bezuidenhout became the first golfer to win back-to-back events on the European Tour in three years on Sunday.
What made it even more special for Bezuidenhout is that his victory came in the 110th South African Open.
“It’s unbelievable to stand here with an Open win,” Bezuidenhout said. “It’s any South African golfer’s dream to win a national tournament. It’s unreal.”
Bezuidenhout is from Delmas, which is about an hour away from the Gary Player Country Club. It’s his third win overall on the Euro Tour in 2020.
Seven days ago, Bezuidenhout’s win in the Dunhill Championship got him back into the top 50 in the world ranking. Now he’s in the top five of the Race to Dubai standings and he will be a contender at next week’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
SCORES: South African Open
Bezuidenhout, 26, started the final round with a five-shot lead over Jamie Donaldson, who cut the deficit to two but got no closer as Bezuidenhout birdied the first three holes on the back nine to pull away.
Back-to-back 🏆🏆
The first player since Justin Rose in 2017 to win two consecutive tournaments on the European Tour.#SAOpen pic.twitter.com/o1JAssKB5e
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 6, 2020
“I fought hard today, the front nine things didn’t really go my way and I just dug deep to come out with a win today,” he said. “That was massive (birdieing the 10th, 11th and 12th). I have to say, the second putt on 11 was huge and obviously the putt on 12 was a bonus, I just tried to get it close inside a couple of feet and made it.”
Bezuidenhout closed with a 69 to finish at 18 under. Donaldson was solo second at 13 under. South African Dylan Frittelli was third, seven shots back. Dean Burmester finished solo fourth at 10 under. JC Ritchie was solo fifth at 9 under.
Casey Jarvis of South Africa won low amateur honors.
Justin Rose in 2017 was the last to win consecutive European Tour victories.
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