Darren Clarke had a bogey on the final hole today but beat South
Africans Retief Goosen and Tjaart van der Waltby by two strokes
to win the Dimension Data Pro-Am.
"That must have been the best 6 I ever shot,'' said Clarke of
Northern Ireland. "After landing in the water, I was sure of having
to card a 7.''
Clarke closed with a 1-under-par 71 for a total of 14-under 274.
Two days earlier, he set a course record with a 63 at Gary Player
Country Club. He led by four shots entering the last round.
Goosen made a late charge and almost forced a playoff but missed
a birdie put on the final hole. Clarke had hit his third shot into
the water on the par-5 hole. He chipped a tricky downhill shot onto
the green.
Clarke dropped a shot at the eighth hole and then had a double
bogey at the ninth for a 35 on the front nine.
Darren
Clarke had an abrupt change of form, winning after missing
the cut at the South African Open last week. Allsport.
"I played some lovely golf over the first seven holes until I swung
it badly at the eighth,'' he said. "Even that double bogey at the
ninth was actually a good shot.''
Goosen and Zimbabwe's Nick Price dropped their first shots of
the day at the 17th, all but ending their hopes of victory. Price's
bogey at 17 was followed by a double bogey on the final hole. That
left him at 279, sharing fourth with South Africans Bradford Vaughan
and Titch Moore.
Van der Walt covered the back nine in 32 and finished with a bogey-free
66. Second-round leader Bruce Vaughan of the United States had a
73 for a 280 total.
Darren Clarke, N.Ireland71-63-69-71-27414-under
Tjaart van der Walt, S.Africa 70-69-71-66-27612-under
Retief Goosen, S.Africa 70-69-68-69-276
Titch Moore, S.Africa 71-68-71-69-2799-under
Bradford Vaughan, S.Africa68-69-71-71-279
Nick Price, Zimbabwe74-67-67-71-279
Bruce Vaughan, U.S. 65-68-74-73-2808-under
Nic Henning, S.Africa 71-69-73-68-2817-under
Hennie Otto, S.Africa 71-70-68-72-281
Graeme Storm, England 70-71-72-69-2826-under
Martin Maritz, S.Africa 69-69-71-73-282
Ian Palmer, S.Africa70-70-70-72-282
