Madsen wins SA Open

Denmark’s Morten Orum Madsen claimed his first European Tour victory with a two-shot win at the 103rd playing of the South African Open Championship on Sunday.

The tournament took place from November 21 to 24 at the Glendower Golf Club, Edenvale.

Madsen looked an unlikely winner early in the day, before home favourites Hennie Otto and Charl Schwartzel both lost momentum and squandered three-shot leads to lose the title to him.

“It has been an amazing day and it hasn’t sunk in yet. Coming down here I didn’t expect to win. Schwartzel looked like he was just going to go off. I was just trying to hang on and see if I could stay within two or three shots. Unfortunately for him, he struggled on a couple of holes and had some bad breaks. Luckily for me, I was there to capitalise,” said Madsen.

“To have the SA Open as my first victory on the European Tour is extremely special. If you look down the list of names that have won this tournament in the past, there are major champions and really great champions all around, so it’s an honour,” Madsen said.

Overnight leader Schwartzel, searching for his first win in his home championship, carded a disappointing final-round 71, which included a triple bogey on the sixth hole and a double on the 10th to finish tied fourth with Italian Marco Crespi.

Louis Taylor, the lone surviving amateur after the cut was made, wrapped up his SA Open campaign with an uncharacteristic 78.

Taylor’s SA Open debut was his first tournament experience on the international stage and this week’s field included 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, two-time US Open winner Retief Goosen and 2014 European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley.

The top six were Morten Madsen of Denmark, who ended on 269, followed by South Africans Jbe Kruger and Hennie Otto on 271. Italian Marco Crespi and Charl Schwartzel both finished on 272. Spain’s Alejandro Canizares finished on 273.