George Coetzee secures his place in the 2013 Masters Tournament
George Coetzee fired a seven-under par 65, in the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship, to secure his place in the 2013 Masters Tournament, the first major golf championship of the season.
The tournament was being staged at the Leopard Creek Golf Club, offering a total prize fund of US$2.5 million, to the participants.
According to the policy, the top-50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings, at the end of the event, qualified to receive invitations for next year’s competition at the Augusta National Golf Club.
Entering the Alfred Dunhill Championship, the South African was holding the 49th place in the rankings. Therefore, he desperately needed to finish strongly, in a bid to strengthen his position in the list.
He came flying out of the blocks by carding birdies on three of the first six holes that he played in the final round. He then lost a shot on the eighth hole, to reach the turn in two under.
However, the South African star did not allow a single bad hole to overhaul his confidence in his game. Consequently, the back nine of the course witnessed him play some good shots.
In total, he recorded five birdies, without conceding a single bogey on the back nine, to accumulate a nine-under par tournament score.
At the end of the day, he found himself sharing the 10th position on the leaderboard, which allowed him to retain the 49th position in the rankings.
Talking to the European Tour’s official website, he stated that qualifying for the Masters Tournament was not his only goal.
In fact, he plans to make it into all of the four major golf championships, and record victories in each of them.
“My dream has never been to just play in The Masters,” said the 26 year old. “I know a couple of guys say that all they want to do in their life is play all four majors. That’s not the job description – I want to play in those majors and I want to win all
of them. It’s great to have the opportunity. As they say in poker: if you have a chip and a chair, you never know”.
He also admitted that the pressure to qualify for the Masters Tournament greatly affected his performance at the 2013 European Tour’s season-opening inaugural Nelson Mandela Championship.
Due to heavy rains, the tournament was reduced to 36 holes, and each round was reduced to par-65.
He opened his campaign by carding a one-over par 66 in the opening round, followed by a 63 in the second and the final round, to finish tied for the 39th position on the leaderboard.
“Last week I could feel that the Masters was making me play a bit rubbish because it puts a bit of pressure on you,” he said about his performance in Durban, South Africa.
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