Olesen triumphs as Els falters
Great Dane wins by two shots while the South African finishes in 27th place
WHENERNIE Els doublebogeyed the par-5 14th hole on the Old Course here yesterday in the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship – won by Dane Thorbjorn Olesen on 18-underpar 270 – it meant any hopes of a South African champion had disappeared into the thin air of a chilly, overcast day.
It was a reminder that even the truly great can have problems at St Andrews’ grand old lady with her hidden dangers. In the 1939 Open, for instance, Bobby Locke was six under par standing on the 14th tee, took two to get out of the nasty clusters of sand traps on the left called the Beardies, put his fourth into the deep, treacherous chasm that is Hell Bunker, and ended up with a triple-bogey eight.
Els was 15-under-par through 13 holes yesterday and just one off the lead at that stage, after a strong bogey-free front nine in which he had picked up four birdies.
But the seven at 14 – like Locke, the bunkers did him in – dropped him back to minus-13 and that was that in his bid to win the tournament for the first time.
And playing ahead of him Els’ young compatriot, talented 21-year-old rookie professional Christiaan Bezuidenhout, also took seven at the hole simply called Long – and at 618 yards it certainly lives up to its name.
Bezuidenhout drove left into a bunker and had to play backwards from there on his way to the double-bogey, before making an ugly triple at the notorious par-4 Road Hole (17) where a big fade over the Old Course Hotel went out-of-bounds.
Those blemishes apart, Bezuidenhout played exceptionally well in his first European Tour event as a professional. Like Els, he was four under for his round at one stage yesterday after birdies at holes 1, 5, 7 and 11.
Then came the two sevens before he rolled in a 30-footer down the hill for birdie at the 18th to sign for a level-par 72 and a nine-under 279 aggregate, highlighted by a second round 65 at Kingsbarns. The former SA No1 amateur, who topped this year’s Big Easy Tour Order of Merit, has already been snapped up by management company Octa8on, and the group’s Mark Ingram was singing his praises yesterday.
“Christiaan has some lovely traits as a golfer, and there’s elements of a Retief Goosen in his swing with a calmness about him. And he’s already proved himself a winner both at amateur and pro level in South Africa.
“Stuart Cage, who mentored Rory McIlroy as a rookie and has a reputation of taking the young pups and turning them into big players, will be looking after Christiaan.”
Jaco van Zyl’s regular caddie, the experienced John Rawlings, looped for Bezuidenhout as a one-off here in Scotland and is hugely impressed by the youngster’s credentials.
“He has a maturity like you can’t believe with a pure swing. He really belongs out here and he’ll be on tour for a long time.”
As for Bezuidenhout himself, he said that – apart from the two sevens yesterday – he felt he’d had a “really good week” and was looking forward to now getting back to South Africa and putting in some solid performances on the Sunshine Tour.
Yesterday one of his playing partners was 2009 Open champion Stewart Cink who patted him on the back after the round and told him he’s got plenty going for him.
Branden Grace started his round with a double-bogey after knocking his approach into the Swilcan Burn and ended with a one over 73 to finish at minus 10.
Els ended up tied for 27th on 277 after a 72, Grace and Justin Walters (69) shared 30th place on 278, with Bezuidenhout one shot further back.
Olesen closed with a 71 for the win with Brooks Koepka and fellow American Chris Stroud, who both shot 67 yesterday, sharing second place on 272, two back of the winner.