Third time lucky as Storm holds firm to edge McIlroy

EIGHTY-THREE days after losing his European Tour card by €100, Graeme Storm pipped Rory McIlroy in a playoff to win the South African Open.

Storm was given a reprieve when Patrick Reed failed to play enough events to join the Tour and he made the most of his second coming in Johannesburg.

Starting the day three shots clear of the world No.2, he almost buckled under the heat as McIlroy made five birdies in a final-round 68.

But the Northern Irishman’s bogey on the par-three 17th teed up a play-off which the Hartlepool man took.

He held his nerve to sink a closerange putt after McIlroy had finished the first time they went back up the 18th hole, but when McIlroy drove wildly the second time, he had a chance. His first shot was not ideal either, though, following McIlroy into the rough, and back they went again.

The third time out, McIlroy’s second shot on the par-four was a poor one, falling short of the green, and a 45-foot putt from Storm that skipped just past allowed him to take a par.

And when McIlroy failed from seven feet, the title was Storm’s – his second European Tour title and first since he won the French Open in 2007. “I am speechless. It’s been incredible and I can’t quite believe it,” he said. “This is a dream come true, especially after what happened to me last year with my card and everything. I really took a lot from that experience and told myself to try to grasp the opportunity of getting my livelihood back with both hands and I have done that this week.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling. I hung in there today and didn’t play my best stuff, but I knew I might get my chance and thankfully it came.”

Selected final scores