It may be the first time in history that a player named Ockie has won a tournament on a major tour.
South African Ockie Strydom put together four birdies over the first five holes of the final nine on Sunday at Leopard Creek then cruised to his first DP World victory at the Alfred Dunhill Chamionship.
Strydom had a rough go of it over his first nine holes at picturesque Leopard Creek. After five straight pars, he went birdie-bogey-birdie-double-bogey to turn in one-over. He opened the door for other contenders but then bounced back quickly with that run of birdies that started at the 10th. He made no mistakes down the stretch and his closing 69 got him to 18-under par, good enough for two-shot margin of victory over Spain’s Adrian Otaegui.
At age 37, Strydom has waited a long time for that first win. “It feels good. I’ve finally done it. To do it on Leopard Creek as well is something special. It’s nice. I think my plans just changed a little bit!” Strydom said after the win.
“Everyone here, thank you. My host that had me this week, unbelievable, all credit to him; my wife, probably crying at home; my parents crying at home; my caddie – thanks a lot,” said Strydom, who entered the week at 242 in the world rankings and should make a big jump. “It’s my favorite place,” he said as he talked about Leopard Creek. “The course is looking phenomenal – the best I’ve ever seen it. It’s the bush. I’m calm in the bush. My first win was in the bush and now we’re back in the bush.
“I’m just happy.”
Dunhill Championship Scoreboard:
Tiger Woods Masters-Worn Shirt Sells For Bargain $139,349:
It’s probably a lot less than the Golden Age guys thought it would fetch but when bidding closed on Saturday night, the Tiger Woods red Sunday shirt from the 2010 Masters sold for $139,349.
The bidding closed while Tiger was in the midst of his night exhibition match at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida.
The other notable item up for grabs was Phil Mickelson’s Scotty Cameron putter that he used to win his 21st PGA Tour event. Phil’s putter went for $44,401.
