Shaun Norris claims the Steyn City Championship
Steyn City Championship gives Shaun Norris his first DP World Tour victory
Shaun Norris went to bed Saturday night after his round pretty confident about his chances of winning the Steyn City Championship.
All he had to do was make sure the wheels didn’t fall off his game on Sunday, and he should be able to cruise to victory Sunday afternoon. Norris opened the final round of the Steyn City Championship on the DP World Tour with a four-shot lead. Still, he quickly saw his overnight advantage disappear during a roller-coaster final round at The Club in Steyn City.
Norris made it interesting really quick, as he bogeyed his opening two holes and found himself one behind when Dean Burmester followed a birdie at the sixth with an eagle-two at the seventh. Burmester followed that up with a crazy second shot on the par-four seventh that dropped in for an eagle, putting Burmester into the lead.
Burmester then saved par at the eighth before he parred the ninth to head to the turn with a one-shot advantage. Heading to the tenth, Burmester looked strong as he reached the green in two and tapped in for the birdie, which increased his lead to two strokes after After finding as Norris made a sixth successive par.
Norris didn’t fall apart; in fact, he birdied the 14th and the 16th to pull even with Burmester and then produced a birdie at the 17th, which ultimately became the winning shot.
Unfortunately, the wheels did fall off for Burmester, as he posted a double-bogey on the 17th and allowed Norris to regain the lead. However, that one hole was the fate of the tournament, and Norris simply parred the final hole to close out a 2-under 70, which put him at 25-under for the tournament and gave him the victory by three shots for his first DP World Tour victory in his 144th start.
In a touching moment, Norris shared this victory with family on the 18th green. Standing with his wife and brother Kyle, who was on his bag all week, while holding his baby Riley-Grace, Norris looked elated and relieved to share this special memory with his family, especially after the turbulent round that got him to that spot.
Norris, 39, led a parade of South Africans, who claimed the top three spots at The Club at Steyn City in Johannesburg. It’s the tenth professional victory for Norris. Burmester was solo second at 22 under. Oliver Bekker and Matti Schmid finished tied for third, six shots back.
Burmester’s late error saw the highest-ranked player in the field close a final-round 69 and finish in solo second, three strokes ahead of both Germany’s Matti Schmid and South African Oliver Bekker.
Tapio Pukkanen birdied his final three holes to close a five-under 67 and claim a share of fifth with halfway leader James Hart du Preez and Denmark’s Joachim B Hansen. At the same time, England’s Dale Whitnell posted back-to-back 67s over the weekend to finish inside the top-10.
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