The top scorers of Alfred Dunhill Championship
The Alfred Dunhill Championship folded its wings on Sunday, 12th December with Pablo Martin in the lead.
The last round kicked off 9:30 in the morning with sixty eight players in the field. Anthony Michael was initially in the lead, but he dropped a putt on the third and seventeenth hole, which pulled him down to the second spot. Moreover, his third shot caught the bunker, which resulted in a double bogey-seven.
He was joined by Thorbjorn Olesen (66) and Charl Schwartzel (70). The player who hail from Denmark (Olesen), gave a superb performance on the back nine, which led to his rise. Olesen fired three back-to-back birdies from thirteen onwards, alongside a superb birdie putt at the 11th. Without a loss, the player picked two more points in the front and wrapped the finale with the lowest score of the day.
Meanwhile, Schwartzel bogeyed seventh and fifteenth hole, which resulted in him settling at the second spot. Thomas Aiken composed a scorecard of 70 and took the third place on the leader board.
One stroke behind were Robert Dinwiddie and Alex Haindl. The South African failed to match up to his performance from the second round and crossed the realms of par. He teed off from the front and bogeyed four holes in the front and one in back. However, three successive birdies on the 11th, 12th, and 13th saved him from a further loss and he managed to take the third place on the leader board.
After scoring 71 each, Robert Rock and David Drysdale grabbed a share in the top four. Rock who is a resident of England, kicked off with a very strong start as he picked three birdies before dropping two shots at the closing holes. A similar trend was seen at the back, when Rock triple bogeyed the 17th hole before catching a birdie with the help of a Green hit in Regulation.
Keith Horne, who posed a severe threat to Anthony Michael in the initial rounds, took a share in the 15th place after making an aggregate of two-under. The player nearly crossed par, owing to bad weather and difficult pin positions, but four birdies bought him back to the safe zone in time. TC Charamba joined Horne after drafting a scorecard of two-over.
Six players took a share in the prize money offered to the top 21. Alan McLean (68), Trevor Fisher Jnr (69), Klas Eriksson (69), Martin Wiegele (70), Marius Thorp (72), and Julien Quesne (72) kept a score of one-under to remain in par.
Pablo Martin once again conquered the most difficult players of South Africa and kept the legacy of the Spanish alive. Martin earned five points in the front nine, helped by one eagle and three birdies. This early relief changed the picture of the entire leader board. Martin picked up one more point on the closing hole and walked the last green as a winner.
The winner had a big smile on his face, thanks to the massive amount of prize, money which was valued at € 1,000,000. This huge sum has pushed the amateur up eight spots in the merit rankings.
Martin walked to the clubhouse flashing the trophy at the crowd. He could not control his laughter, when the press circled him for a quick interview. The Spaniard said,” I was really lucky to start off strong. I hit a couple of really good shots out there and a good couple of putts. In the end, I needed it a little more than I would have liked."
The tournament ended with superb scores, although the weather created humongous resistance. It rained the entire day making the greens slippery and soft. Despite all odds, Pablo Martin held the trophy high for the second time in a row.
Tags: