Weekly Tour Wrap-up #4th Mar

Last week, despite the presence of some of the world’s best players, first-time winners prevailed on both the PGA and European Tours.

In America, a Web.com Tour graduate held off a truly world-class field to claim a monumental victory and earn a two-year PGA Tour exemption.

In South Africa, the world number 436 earned his first European Tour card and moved up more than 200 places in the rankings after triumphing in his homeland.

Van Der Walt victorious in South Africa

Dawie Van Der Walt shot a closing 67 to card a 21-under-par 72-hole total and win the inaugural Tshwane Open by two shots from Darren Fichardt at Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate.

The South African – who will now be fully exempt on the European Tour – had previously only won a handful of tournaments on feeder tours in the US.

Van Der Walt opened with a solid four-under-par 68, but trailed Fichardt by three shots after round one.

The Africa Open champion was eight under for his round after 16 holes, but bogeyed the 8^th, his 17^th, for a 65.

Little-known Swede Bjorn Akesson sat in second place on six under, with a large group, including Englishman David Howell and Indian Jeev Milka Singh, a shot further back.

On Friday, it was another South African who moved to the top of the leaderboard.

After opening with a 67, Charl Coetzee fired a bogey-free 65 to lead the pack by one shot on 12-under-par.

Van Der Walt matched Coetzee’s bogey-free 65 to reach 11-under-par alongside Chile’s Marco Tullo after 36 holes, with former American amateur champion Peter Uihlein on 10-under-par.

After three days, Coetzee was still at the top of the leaderboard, but he had company in the shape of Van Der Walt, Fichardt and Tullo on 16-under-par.

Van Der Walt and Tullo, who hadn’t dropped a shot over the first 54 holes, both returned 67s, while Fichardt bounced back from a lackluster second-round 71 to card an eight-under-par 64.

On Sunday, both Coetzee and Fichardt birdied the second and third holes to move away from the pack, but a Van Der Walt eagle at four meant there was a three-way tie at the top.

Van Der Walt added two more at six and seven, and turned in 34 to lead Fichardt (-19) by one and Tullo and Coetzee (-17) by three.

He bogeyed the 10^th – his first dropped shot of the week – to fall back into a tie for the lead, with Coetzee, who birdied the 10^th, just one behind.

But he bounced back with birdies at 12 and 15 to open up a two shot lead on Fichardt, who just couldn’t get any putts to drop.

Meanwhile, Tullo had imploded with a bogey-double bogey-bogey run from the 11^th, and Coetzee had fallen out of contention with back-to-back-bogies from the 14^th, including a one-stroke penalty for slow play.

From that point onwards, Van Der Walt stayed solid, and three pars to close were enough to make him the fifth South African winner in the last 10 European Tour events.

Thompson triumphs at the Honda Classic

Michael Thompson shot a closing 69 to post a nine-under-par 72 hole total and win the Honda Classic by two shots from Geoff Ogilvy at the PGA National Champion Course.

The 2012 U.S. Open runner-up has now earned a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and moved him to a career-high 45^th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Thompson opened with a three-under-par 67, but trailed 2010 champion Camilo Villegas by three shots after round one.

Graeme DeLaet, Ben Kohles and European Tour star Branden Grace were all in a tie for second on five-under-par.

Villegas had a Friday to forget at the tough PGA National, and contrived to miss the cut after a second-round 77.

It was also a tempestuous day for defending champion and world number one Rory McIlroy, who withdrew after playing his first eight holes in seven over par.

At the other end of proceedings, Web.com Tour graduate Luke Guthrie moved to the top of the leaderboard after a fine second-round 63.

He led Thompson by one shot heading into the weekend, with DeLaet and Boo Weekley two back on seven-under-par.

Lee Westwood had quietly worked his way into the top five with a second-round 68 to sit alongside compatriot Justin Rose on six under.

On Saturday scoring was tough, but the two Web.com Tour graduates handled the pressure admirably.

They traded the lead on a number of occasions before finishing together on eight-under-par after 54 holes.

Westwood and 2006 Open Champion Geoff Ogilvy were two back on six under, one better than Rickie Fowler and in-form American Charles Howell III.

On Sunday, the windy conditions made scoring even tougher, and no one was able to make a charge at the lead. It became clear early on that a level-par round from the leaders would probably be good enough.

But Thompson wasn’t content to play par golf, and his topsy turvy round started with the only eagle of the day at the par-5 3^rd.

He mixed two birdies with three bogies over the next six holes to reach the turn on nine-under-par, two clear of Guthrie and three in front of Ogilvy.

He would par the next four holes and with five to play, the gap was still two.

Guthrie, however, gave two shots back with a costly double at the 14^th, and Ogilvy also dropped a shot to fall four behind.

Ogilvy bounced back with birdies at 16 and 18, meaning Thompson, who bogeyed the 16^th, was one in front standing on the 18^th tee.

Despite the abundant pressure, Thompson found the greenside bunker in two and made a fine up and down to finish with a birdie and a two-shot victory.

Next week, the second World Golf Championship of the season, the WGC-Cadillac Championship, takes place at Doral, where Justin Rose defends.