South African Open: There is something faintly nerdish about Trevor Immelman and the way the top button of his golf shirt remains firmly fastened, but there was nothing remotely timid or nervous about the way he dismantled Erinvale yesterday to claim his second successive South African Open title.
The 24-year-old South African bogeyed the second, but then carded seven birdies as he sauntered away from the field. A closing round of 67 gave him a three-stroke victory over Scotland's Alastair Forsyth and Steve Webster of England. Another South African, Darren Fichardt, was two shots further back in fourth.
Paul McGinley produced a solid weekend with two 71s to finish on two-under-par and earn a share of 27th place. The only other Irish player to survive the cut, Peter Lawrie, had started well, but finished 72, 73 to slip to two-over-par and tied for 51st place.
The win puts Immelman in elite company - he is the first man since Gary Player in 1977 to successfully defend the game's second oldest open championship.
Erinvale is Immelman's home, the course where he honed his game and which he says he has played more than 200 times. His 2003 triumph was here and there was a sense of inevitability about the way he again peaked to triumph yesterday, coming from two shots back in a remorseless march to victory.
As his challengers faded, Immelman drove his advantage home, turning in 33 before adding further birdies at the 10th, 13th and 16th to move clear.
His two-putt par from 60 feet at the treacherous 17th was celebrated with a fist-pump and allowed him to enjoy every minute of his walk up the final hole in front of his army of fans. His three-putt on the last green was an irrelevance.
"It hasn't sunk in yet," Immelman said. "For me to come here and play in front of my friends and family - there's nothing that compares to it. I wish the tournament was played here for all time.
"Today my game plan was for me to trust my swing and not back down from any shots. Just trust it and be aggressive."
Webster's runner-up finish was his fifth on the European Tour and his second at the SA Open, where he was runner-up to Tim Clark at Durban Country Club two years ago.
"I am a bit disappointed to have finished second because I did fancy my chances today, but that is golf," Webster said after his 71. "I didn't really get going and didn't birdie the par fives enough."
Colin Montgomerie pronounced himself happy with his early start to the year, complete with new equipment and a new caddy. Monty carded a final round 69 to finish tied for 16th place at four under with Lee Westwood.
"To finish four under par with a 78 in there is pretty good, and two 69s at the weekend is pleasing," he said.
Guardian Service
(Rsa unless stated, Irish in bold)
276 (12 under)
T Immelman 71 69 69 67
279 (9 under)
S Webster (Eng) 66 75 67 71
A Forsyth (Sco) 68 69 74 68
281 (7 under)
D Fichardt 69 75 67 70
282 (6 under)
M Fraser (Aus) 74 71 67 70
R Jacquelin (Fra) 68 71 70 73
D Carter (Eng) 74 69 71 68
M Tunnicliff (Eng) 70 71 72 69
283 - N Van Rensburg 67 70 75 71, A Hansen (Den) 70 69 68 76, S Dodd (Wal) 65 73 72 73, T Moore 71 69 75 68, B Rumford (Aus) 64 74 73 72, S Struver (Ger) 70 72 74 67, S Scahill (Nzl) 67 72 75 69
284 - C Lile 69 68 70 77, J Kingston 70 73 70 71, N Henning 75 70 67 72, L Westwood (Eng) 71 72 70 71, C Montgomerie (Sco) 68 78 69 69, H Otto 66 74 79 65, B Kennedy (Aus) 73 71 75 65
285 - I Poulter (Eng) 71 71 71 72, J Rose (Eng) 73 72 68 72, S Wakefield (Eng) 70 69 75 71, M Maritz 70 75 75 65
286 - P McGinley (Irl) 76 68 71 71, MA Jimenez (Spa) 68 79 72 67, J Lomas (Eng) 73 74 70 69, A Marshall (Eng) 73 74 68 71, D Lynn (Eng) 76 70 68 72
287 - A Michell 68 73 74 72, JM Carriles (Spa) 70 70 75 72, C Schwartzel 77 70 65 75, S Dunlap (US) 72 70 73 72, L Oosthuizen 75 72 69 71, D Pappas 71 76 70 70
288 - D Botes 69 71 73 75, J Moseley (Aus) 69 74 73 72, JM Lara (Spa) 70 76 70 72, P Golding (Eng) 72 73 68 75, D Howell (Eng) 71 74 70 73, T Dodds (Nam) 70 76 71 71, T Simon 74 71 72 71
289 - P Baker (Eng) 69 77 71 72, M Lafeber (Ned) 71 72 76 70, M Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 69 76 73 71, C Rodiles (Spa) 71 74 72 72, H Buhrmann 66 78 73 72, J Haeggman (Swe) 72 75 74 68
290 - P Lawrie (Irl) 71 74 72 73, S Norris 70 73 71 76, A Kruger 71 75 70 74, C Gane (Eng) 73 72 75 70, P Lawrie (Sco) 72 73 73 72
291 - N Lawrence 75 72 74 70, U Van Den Berg 76 69 78 68, A Coltart (Sco) 71 72 76 72
292 - A Da Silva (Bra) 73 74 71 74, J Spence (Eng) 71 76 71 74
293 - K Ferrie (Eng) 70 74 73 76, M Siem (Ger) 68 75 74 76, W Westner 76 71 73 73, A Cruse 73 73 74 73, R Russell (Sco) 75 72 72 74, S Farrell (Zw) 72 75 75 71
294 - S Hurd (Eng) 75 70 77 72, J Edfors (Swe) 73 74 73 74, T Auret 68 74 81 71
295 - R Chapman (Eng) 72 74 70 79, B Hlophe 72 74 76 73, M Bothma 70 73 77 75, M Lamb (Zim) 74 69 75 77
296 - D Terblanche 74 72 78 72
298 - E Marugi 75 72 73 78
299 - J Walters 74 72 77 76
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)