Golf South African Open: Tim Clark felt the pressure on his way to a second South African Open title at the Durban Country Club yesterday, despite playing on a course he knows intimately and winning by six strokes.
The 29-year-old South African, who lives just south of Durban and played most of his amateur golf at the par 72 layout, shot a final round 66 to take the title on 15-under-par 273.
France's Gregory Havret and South Africa's Charl Schwartzel shared second place on nine-under-par after rounds of 69 and 68 respectively.
And Darren Clarke recorded a second successive 67 to take a share of fourth on eight-under-par 280. The Ulsterman has donated his €27,726 winnings to the tsunami relief fund.
Clark carded 34 on the outward nine with birdies at the par-five third and the par-four fifth, and returned in 32 with further birdies at the 10th, 14th 17th and 18th.
"I'm extremely pleased because I felt a lot of pressure out there today," Clark said. "There were a lot of people who expected me to win, and although I was confident I did feel it. But my game got better as the week went on and I probably played my best today."
In 2002, Clark won the SA Open at the same venue, and he drew on his vast experience at the course to see off this weekend's field, having started the day in a four-way tie for lead.
He did not record a single bogey in the third or the fourth rounds.
"I played really well on the back nine. I really didn't look like I was in trouble too much and I even felt that a few more putts could have gone in today," he said.
"To finish strong like that was a great reward. It means a great deal to win here, but perhaps my next goal should be to win somewhere else.
"This win has certainly gone some way to helping me achieve my goals for the season," added Clark, who plays regularly on the US Tour.
"I want to make the President's Cup team, and now I'm back in the top 50 in the world so it's a good start."
Clark also made a substantial donation from his winnings to tsunami relief.
The South African said: "I have wanted to contribute since the disaster and this fund is an ideal way for professional and amateur golfers to make a difference.
"We all saw the devastating pictures over Christmas which placed golf into perspective."
Dunhill Championship victor Schwartzel wrapped up the Sunshine Tour's order of merit title with his joint second-place finish and jumped to the top of the European Order of Merit.
"I've won this order of merit, so maybe we can win the Volvo order of merit. I'm playing well at the moment, so we'll see where this year takes me to," Schwartzel said.
Next best of the Irish was Stephen Browne, who shot rounds of 74 and 73 over the weekend to finish in a share of 63rd place and collect €1,783. Gary Murphy recovered from an 81 on Saturday to close with a 68 for 69th place and €1,331.
Final Totals:
(Rsa unless stated, Irish in bold)
273 - Tim Clark 68 71 68 66.
279 - Charl Schwartzel 68 72 71 68, Gregory Havret (Fra) 69 69 72 69.
280 - James Kingston 71 70 72 67, Graeme Storm (Eng) 71 68 69 72, Darren Clarke (NIrl) 72 74 67 67, Nick Dougherty (Eng) 73 73 68 66.
281 -Tjaart Van der Walt 66 71 70 74, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 75 70 68 68, Titch Moore 65 70 72 74, David Howell (Eng) 73 70 67 71.
282 - Desmond Terblanche 68 72 73 69, Louis Oosthuizen 69 69 73 71, Paul Eales (Eng) 74 69 70 69, Hendrik Buhrmann 70 67 70 75.
283 - Marten Olander (Swe) 72 73 71 67, Werner Geyer 71 72 71 69.
284 - Neil Cheetham (Eng) 70 70 70 74, Bobby Lincoln 71 70 69 74, Lee Slattery (Eng) 73 68 71 72, Bruce Vaughan (US) 65 73 73 73, Hennie Otto 71 72 71 70, Jaco Van Zyl 70 70 72 72.
285 - Simon Hurd (Eng) 75 66 73 71, Phillip Archer (Eng) 72 70 71 72, Ian Garbutt (Eng) 71 70 71 73, Johan Edfors (Swe) 74 69 73 69, Kenneth Ferrie (Eng) 72 72 69 72, Jonathan Lomas (Eng) 72 73 70 70, Garry Houston (Wal) 74 68 70 73, Fulton Allem 74 69 72 70, Lars Brovold (Nor) 68 72 73 72.
286 - Marcel Siem (Ger) 69 77 72 68, Darren Fichardt 70 73 72 71, Richard Sterne 74 71 73 68, Stuart Manley (Wal) 76 67 72 71, Andrew McLardy 69 69 75 73, Leif Westerberg (Swe) 74 71 73 68, Fredrik Henge (Swe) 71 69 76 70.
287 - Gavin Levenson 74 70 71 72, Scott Dunlap (US) 71 75 71 70, Trevor Immelman 70 73 69 75.
288 - Jean Hugo 74 67 73 74, John Mashego 71 72 73 72, Ross Wellington 69 70 77 72, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72 71 71 74.
289 - Ashley Roestoff 74 70 75 70, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 71 74 70 74, Warren Abery 73 70 75 71, David Griffiths (Eng) 74 72 73 70, Andrew Butterfield (Eng) 75 71 70 73.
290 - Ben Mason (Eng) 75 70 70 75, Lindani Ndwandwe 69 72 73 76, Malcolm MacKenzie (Eng) 68 76 77 69, Marc Cayeux (Eng) 72 69 80 69, Matthew Blackey (Eng) 72 72 71 75, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 74 72 72.
291 - Niki Zitny (Aut) 75 69 74 73, Jason Kelly 73 70 76 72, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 75 71 70 75, Michiel Bothma 70 73 75 73, Martin Maritz 75 68 76 72.
292 - Michael Kirk (US) 72 70 75 75, Stephen Browne (Irl) 78 67 74 73, Andrea Maestroni (Ita) 74 69 75 74, Philip Golding (Eng) 69 76 70 77, Thomas Aiken 72 73 76 71.
293 - Oliver Wilson (Eng) 72 73 76 72.
295 - David Frost 72 72 77 74, Gary Murphy (Irl) 76 70 81 68, Chris Williams (Eng) 68 78 73 76.
296 - Chris Davison 72 73 77 74.
297 - Joachim Backstrom 73 70 78 76.
299 - Alain Norris 73 72 83 71.
301 - Jakobus Roos (Rsa) 73 72 79 77.
303 - Tony Johnstone (Zim) 77 68 83 75.
304 - Cody Freeman (US) 71 75 77 81.
