Freeway Park golfer Casey Jarvis capped a remarkable breakthrough season with a career-best finish at a major after ending tied for sixth at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in England.

The Investec South African Open champion, who qualified for golf’s oldest major by winning the national championship in Stellenbosch earlier this year, fired a superb final-round 66, which included birdies at the third hole, fifth, 11th and in front of the fans packed in the 18th grandstand, to finish as the leading South African on six-under-par, just four shots behind champion Ryan Fox.

The 22-year-old’s performance at The Open continued a sensational season that has established him as one of the DP World Tour’s brightest young stars.

His rise began with back-to-back DP World Tour victories earlier this year, first at the Magical Kenya Open before following it with a memorable three-shot triumph at the South African Open at Stellenbosch Golf Club in March.

Jarvis carried that momentum into the Joburg Open, where he finished tied second on 16-under-par, narrowly missing out on what would have been a third consecutive DP World Tour title.

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His SA Open victory earned the Brakpan State Mines Country Club member invitations to the majors. He made his Masters debut in April before missing the cut in his second career major appearance. Jarvis then finished tied for 65th on his PGA Championship debut at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania before producing his best major performance yet at Royal Birkdale.

His top-10 finish also secured him a place in next year’s Open Championship at St Andrews.

Reflecting on his performance to the DP World Tour, Jarvis credited his victories in Kenya and at the SA Open for giving him the confidence to compete with the world’s best.

“I’m very proud of myself. I didn’t expect to be in this position competing against the best players in the world. I didn’t see myself coming top 10 in The Open. I think the last seven months have been a bit of a blur, with wins at Kenya and my home Open. But you’ve got to go on the confidence, and I think that’s what I’ve done, and I’ve taken advantage of that,” he said.

“All the guys at the top of the leaderboard were my role models growing up, with Scottie (Scheffler), Rory (McIlroy) and a few other guys. I’ve been looking up to them and seeing how they play, and to see my name on the leaderboard among the best players in the world truly means the world to me.”

Jarvis’ impressive showing lifted him 19 places to a career-high 63rd in the Official World Golf Ranking after starting the week ranked 82nd.

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