Alfred Dunhill Championship; 4-day recap
The Alfred Dunhill Championship wrapped up on Sunday in heavy rains and thick fog. For the ones who missed the four-day session, here is a quick recap.
The tournament kicked off on Leopard Creek in pleasant weather conditions with a star stellar field. Anthony Michael surged to early lead with a score of 6-under-par after smashing seven birdies against a bogey.
A stroke below was a group of three players namely, Robert Rock, Dawie Van der Walt, Marius Thorp, and Sebastian Buhl. A good quality of low scoring was seen on the first day, but as the tournament proceeded, stats began to fall.
In the second round, Anthony Michael fired a score of three-under-par 69 and once again vaulted his name on the top of the leader board.
Michael teed off in the afternoon and chose the front nine as his battleground. The rookie birdied six holes against three bogeys and despite of the loss, held the lead firmly. He was chased by a group of three amateurs, namely, Dawie
Van der Walt, Robert Rock, and Alex Haindl. The group compiled a grand seven-under-par, but the best performance came from Haindl. The 27-year-old chose to tee from back, and eagled the par-five 15th alongside par-five second. To eliminate further threats,
the South African fired a six-under-par 66, with the help of two birdies.
Despite of having a superb scorecard, Haindl was not happy with his game. While talking to the press Haindl said, "I hit nice hybrids in for my eagles - on the front edge on 15 where I sank quite a nice putt, and I hit it to about seven
feet on two. I three-putted once, and I missed quite a few six-footers. The greens are quite difficult - there is quite a bit of grain in them. But the rest of my game's been good.”
Half of the field failed to make the halfway cut, which included Louis Oosthuizen. The veteran compiled a score of one-under-par on the second day at Leopard Creek and failed to impress the crowd with miscalculated drives and loose putts. He parred the first
three holes before firing a birdie at the par-5 15th. However, he failed to do much as he helped a single point in the front.
The South African told the press, "The Open win has definitely sunk in, I've been feeling drained for the last five months. The year is getting very long; I had a very difficult schedule with the Sunshine Tour at the end too. You want to do everything, but
it is tough being mentally tired. It makes it difficult to play well; it gets to you in the end. It was frustrating, but it was also a good time to get off, spend some time with the family, and think about what I'd achieved.”
On the final day, Pablo Martin peaked from the middle order and surged up to declare victory. The Spaniard took a three-stroke edge over three players: Charl Schwartzel, Anthony Michael, and Thorbjorn Olesen.
The defending champion teed from front, added a birdie on the first hole and eagle on the second. With a break of four pars, the amateur picked two more birdies and capped the front with an aggregate of five-under-30.
He picked up one more birdie at the closing hole, with a loss of three strokes, and climbed up. The winner birdied the par-5 18th hole for the third time, unlike Charl Schwartzel who conquered it in all four attempts.
The tournament ended with terrible scoring, owing to the rain and fog that hovered on the fairways of Leopard Creek Country Club.
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