McIlroy splutters at the death

THE SA Open finished in dramatic fashion yesterday when tournament favourite Rory McIlroy missed a metre-long putt to hand the title to unheralded Britain Graeme Storm.

Both McIlroy and Storm finished on 18-under before playing the first two holes in a sudden death play-off.

Storm‚ who had held the lead from the second round‚ was rewarded for remarkable consistency and bagged R2.3-million for his efforts.

It was his first significant triumph since winning the French Open in 2007.

Earlier‚ just when it looked like Northern Irishman McIlroy had subdued Storm’s challenge‚ the former allowed the Englishman back in.

McIlroy found the green side bunker on the 17th and his first attempt to extricate himself came up short as the ball trickled back into the sand trap.

The “Ooos” and “Aaahs” from the gallery were vocal confirmation of the gravity of the situation.

McIlroy had to settle for bogey but so too did Englishman Jordan Smith‚ which effectively killed off his challenge play.

McIlroy and Storm went par on the 72nd hole to force a play-off.

McIlroy had wiped out the three-shot deficit Storm held over him at the start of the final round with a closing 68. Storm managed a 71.

Smith finished 17-under‚ to miss out on a play-off berth by a shot.

Although many in the large crowd would have been disappointed to see McIlroy lose‚ they would have been enthralled by the climax. The leading South African was Dean Burmeister on 15-under with Trevor Fisher Jnr and Thomas Aiken a further shot back. — TMG Digital with one hole to