South Africa’s Ockie Strydom carded a final-round 69 to claim his first on the DP World Tour with a two-shot victory at the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.

The 37-year-old started the final round level on 15-under par with Scott Jamieson, but suffered a setback on the ninth with a double-bogey. He rallied, however, to secure four birdies in the next five holes and ease to victory on 18-under par.

Spaniard Adrian Otaegui, who closed with a 68, took second, with England’s Laurie Canter taking third after flying up the leaderboard with an 8-under-par 64 on Sunday. Jamieson dropped away tamely, shooting a final round 76 to finish

Strydom, who finished 15th in last week’s South African Open, picked up €255,000 for the win and also earned his card to play on the DP World Tour for the remainder of the 2023 season. His world ranking has risen from 384th to 242nd.

He said:  “It feels good to have finally done it, and to do it at Leopard Creek makes it even more special. I love playing this course. I feel calm out in the bush. I think my plans for next year have just changed a little bit, and I couldn’t be happier.”

For the final leaderboard, click here. 

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The DP World Tour’s 2022 season drew to a close in dramatic fashion as Jon Rahm, the third round leader of the season-ending Tour Championship, held off Ryder Cup team-mates Tyrrell Hatton, Alex Noren and Rory McIlroy to win by two shots.

The Spaniard went into the final round with a narrow one-stroke lead, but reeled off three opening birdies to stretch that advantage before bouncing back from a bogey on the fourth with three more gains to sign for a closing 67 and finish the tournament on 20 under par.

Rahm’s victory continues his love affair with Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Earth Course, where he now has three wins and another top-five finish in four visits. He also adds a fifth Rolex Series title to his collection, becoming the first person to achieve the feat.

McIlroy won the other prize on offer this week, topping the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex to win the Harry Vardon Trophy for the fourth time. The Northern Irishman capped a hugely successful year by becoming the European Number One, World Number One and FedExCup Champion at the same time for the first time in his career.

Rahm never relinquished the lead on day four, but did not look totally comfortable at times, as a series of missed fairways gave hope to his challengers who were queuing up behind him. He took a two-shot lead to the last but an errant tee-shot landed him in tree trouble and he only just cleared the penalty area with his second shot. But his gamble paid off as he two-putted for par on the 18th green to storm to victory.

Tyrrell Hatton and Alex Noren finished in a tie for second on 18 under, with McIlroy two shots further back in fourth. Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick were in a share of fifth place on 13 under, with the latter shooting a disappointing closing 73 to end his chances of finishing no.1 in Europe.

More on this story to come…..

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Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre beat US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick in a play-off to win the Italian Open after a tense final day at at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, venue for next year’s Ryder Cup.

The 26-year-old, whose only other European Tour win came in Cyprus in 2020, started the final day three strokes off the lead, which was held by Fitzpatrick, but raced into contention as he cleared the front nine in six under par. He carded four birdies and three bogeys on the back nine, signing for a seven-under 64 as he set the clubhouse target at 14 under.

A nervous wait followed as Fitzpatrick was also 14 under with two to play, but the Yorkshireman dropped a shot on the par-three 17th. Frenchman Victor Perez then missed the opportunity to draw level with MacIntyre on 14 under as a short-range birdie putt on the 18th slipped past the hole, settling for third place in Rome. Fitzpatrick recovered with a birdie on the 18th  to force extra holes, signing for a 67 after making a birdie at the last with an 50-foot two-putt from off the green.

At the first extra hole, Fitzpatrick found trouble off the tee on the 580-yard, par-five hole, and could only make a made a par, while MacIntyre was just off the green with his second shot, and hit it close with his third and then rolled in a birdie putt from three feet for victory.

The win is MacIntyre’s first in regulation strokeplay, having won his maiden DP World Tour title at the 2020 Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown – winning the title in a final-day shoot-out format.

Rory McIlroy, making a rate appearance at the Italian Open, finished fourth on 12 under, while Lucas Herbert and Aaron Rai shared fifth on 11 under.

MacIntyre said: “It’s unbelievable. I didn’t think it was going to come again. I’ve struggled the last year and just felt like my game wasn’t quite there, but I’ve made a lot of changes over the last three months and my iron this week has been absolutely brilliant, and thankfully I managed to get over the line at the end.

“I thought if I get through the front nine in par we could make a move from there, but when I got off to such a hot start, I was just trying to keep pushing and stay aggressive. Obviously, I dropped a shot on 14 and 15 was a terrible bogey, but I carried on playing aggressively and thankfully it paid off.”

Having won at next year’s Ryder Cup venue, MacIntyre is keen that he be back here in 12 months’ time as a member of Luke Donald’s European team. “We are a long way off from the Ryder Cup, but it’s my number one priority to get a place on that team,” he said. “I was close last time, but this is what I want. My only goal for the season is to make the team, so I think I’ve made a good start.”

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