Sterne claims title at Dunhill

By Thahir Asmal PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MPUMALANGA, South Africa (Ticker)—Richard Sterne used a consistent final round Sunday to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

Taking advantage of struggles from second-round leaders Thomas Aiken and Len Mattiace, Sterne shot a 3-under-par 69 to finish at 17-under 271. The South African won by a shot over Johan Edfors of Sweden and Englishman Robert Rock.

It was the fourth career European title for Sterne, who previously won the 2008 Joburg Open after a playoff at at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club.

Sterne’s latest title came with plenty of help from Aiken and Mattiace, who stumbled to scores of 75 and 77, respectively. Aiken finished in a tie for fourth at 15-under while Mattiace fell all the way to 14th at 12-under.

Sterne admitted he was a little surprised by the manner at which the leaders had fallen.

“I actually only saw the leaderboard on 16 and thought the leaders will probably be on 17 or 18 under,” he said.

“So I got a bit of a surprise when I was leading by one. I made a good two putt there and I knew that 17 under was probably going to be good enough. But I’m quite happy. The back nine I gave away two very weak bogeys on 10 and 12, but I came back strong and that’s what counts on those last six holes on a Sunday.”

The Pretoria-born golfer, who became the first home winner of the tournament since Ernie Els in 2005, admitted that he was very nervous coming into the final hole where he shot a triple-bogey and double-bogey in the last two rounds.

“I was thinking ‘just make a par, that’s all I’ve got to do’,” he continued. “Obviously I wasn’t feeling very comfortable on that hole and I played it exactly how I wanted to play it. I would like to have hit the putt a little closer, but fortunately I knocked it in.

“I don’t think many people have won with a triple and double on that hole.”