South Africa’s Trevor Immelman achieved a home success in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City when he held off England’s Justin Rose in a tense final round.
The two 27 year olds had gone into the final round sharing the lead and they were still level with six holes to play. Rose was the first to slip up, dropping a shot on the 13th and Immelman capitalised when he chipped in for a birdie on the next hole to pull two strokes clear.
But then Immelman bogeyed both the 16th and 17th leaving the pair tied at 17 under par playing the last. Immelman dropped another shot on the last but Rose made an even more costly mistake, landing the ball in the crowd on his way to a double bogey. Immelman was left to complete a round of 72 for a 16 under par total of 272 and claim the $1.2 million.
Three-time champion Ernie Els shot a disappointing 72 in the final round, failing to challenge for the lead as anticipated and ending in third place on 11-under-par.
Swede Henrik Stenson had flashes of brilliance in the second and third rounds but a blotchy fourth round which contrasted five birdies with a double bogey and three bogeys ensured he ended fourth on seven under par.
