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Home favorite Darren Fichardt won the Africa Open in South Africa
Fichardt edged home with a two-shot lead in East London
South Africa's Jaco Van Zyl and France's Gregory Bourdy finished in a tie for second
Darren Fichardt claimed victory at the Africa Open in South Africa Sunday, despite suffering a late scare.
The overnight leader managed to cling on after dropping three shots in the his last five holes to finish with a one-under-par 71.
And the home favorite admitted afterward that he was left fretting as the tension began to rise.
“I started losing focus,” Fichardt said on the European Tour website. “I was four shots ahead and I started taking it for granted.
“I was putting unbelievably and then I missed a short putt at the 14th and thought ‘what’s going on here?
“This is one of my favorite tournaments. The golf course is second to none – you’ve got to hit a lot of knock down shots and irons off the tee.
“I always enjoy coming here, and obviously winning the tournament makes the week especially enjoyable.”
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Fichardt edged out fellow South African Jaco Van Zyl and France’s Gregory Bourdy, who finished in a tie for second place.
It represented a fourth consecutive win for the home nation, after Charl Schwartzel (2010) and fellow Major Champion Louis Oosthuizen (2011 and 2012) won the first three tournaments.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s world number eight Shin Ji-Yai claimed victory and the $185,000 prize at the Women’s Australian Open Sunday.
Shin finished two strokes clear of Taiwan’s Tseng Yani and four ahead of teen sensation Lydia Ko at 18-under-par.
New Zealander Ko, 15, could only manage a three-over 76 to finish third at 14-under-par.
Shin, 24, carded a final round of 72 for an overall total of 274, which was enough to claim her third victory in seven LPGA tour starts and 11th career win.
Shin, who turned professional in January 2005, is the first South Korean woman to win the tournament in its 21-year history.
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“Finally I win in Australia so I’m really happy about that,” she told the LPGA website.
“I was so nervous this morning because I had a good chance for birdies, but also had a lot of hard work to keep par.
“Then the course is kept dry, so it’s really hard to control with my iron distance.
“I had two bogeys today, but I think they’re still happy with only two bogeys because I missed a few greens, but my chip shot was great and I had a good up and down out there.
“I believed – and then when I came through the 18th, the green, there were so many people down there, so it felt amazing to walk through.”