Rory, eat ya heart out

RORY McILroy would have given anything to match the heroics of Carrie Park and Nobhule Dlamini at Glendower’s par-4 18th hole, where he lost in a play-off to England’s Graeme Storm in the men’s South African Open last month. Yesterday, in the final round of the Canon Sunshine Ladies Tour Classic, South Africa’s Park, 20, from Centurion and Swaziland’s Dlamini Nobuhle both spectacularly birdied the 18th in regulation play to move to a join-leading five-under-par 211 for the tournament. Just as McIlory and Storm went up and down Glendower’s 18th in a suddendeath play-off, so too did Park and Dlamini. They traded pars for the first three trips down 18 before Park made a wonderful birdie to seal victory at the fourth extra hole, hitting a drive and an eight-iron to about three feet, while Dlamini could only manage a par. Park closed regulation play with a twounder 70 in the rain while bighitting Dlamini produced a day’s best 67, which included an eagle-three at the par-5 13th. – Grant Winter