Scotland’s Calum Hill secured a thrilling victory at the Joburg Open on Sunday, emerging victorious in a dramatic three-man playoff at Houghton Golf Club.
The final round unfolded under brooding Johannesburg skies, with Hill making a late surge to the top. His spectacular 62 in the final round brought him to 14 under par, where he was joined by South Africans Jacques Kruyswijk (who carded a 66) and Shaun Norris (who shot a 70), all tied at the top as the tournament headed into a playoff.
The trio played the par-four 18th as the first playoff hole, and all three golfers parred the hole, sending them into a second sudden-death playoff. On the second playoff hole, Norris hit his second shot into the water after finding the right fairway bunker off the tee, leading to a double bogey. Kruyswijk then bogeyed the hole, while Hill made par to secure his second DP World Tour title.
“I’m a little bit taken aback at the moment,” Hill said. “I was quite far back at the start of the final round, and then played a great round of golf where a lot of putts went in. I’m a bit shocked, but delighted to come out with the trophy.”
The final round began with tense drama as Norris’s four-shot lead was reduced to two after back-to-back bogeys on the opening holes. With five players trailing close behind, the excitement continued to build.
Norris, tied for the lead with Hill, hit his second shot into the water on the 12th, leading to a double bogey. Hill missed a par putt on 16 for a bogey. As the round progressed, Dylan Frittelli, who had bogeyed 15, found himself tied for the lead with Hill. Kruyswijk joined the leaders after a birdie on 13, and the lead continued to shift in a thrilling fashion.
Kruyswijk briefly took the lead at 14 under after a birdie on 14 but dropped back with a bogey on 15. Hill responded with a birdie on the 18th after an exquisite approach shot that left him with a short putt for birdie, setting the clubhouse target at 14 under.
Kruyswijk birdied the 17th to join the playoff, and Norris followed suit with a tremendous birdie on 18 to force his way into the playoff.
“I thought we might need one or two more birdies. I just had to wait and see and fortunately -14 held up to get into a playoff, and then anything can happen. I’m just fortunate to come out on top,” said Hill.
Final Scores
- 266 – Calum Hill
- 266 – Jacques Kruyswijk, Shaun Norris
- 267 – Dylan Frittelli
- 268 – Daniel van Tonder
- 269 – Kieran Vincent
- 270 – Brandon Robinson Thompson, Jacob Olesen
- 271 – Jayden Schaper, Todd Clements, Sam Bairstow, Connor Syme, Marcel Siem
- 272 – Wenyi Ding, Callum Tarren, Daniel Brown, Robin Williams, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen
- 273 – Francesco Laporta, Romain Langasque, Marco Penge, Malcolm Mitchell, Jaco Ahlers, Adrien Saddier
- 275 – Pierre Pineau, Jeong Weon Ko, Gerhard Pepler, Adrian Otaegui, Ugo Coussaud
- 276 – Bjorn Akesson, Jordan Smith, Kyle Barker, Nikhil Rama, Brandon Stone, Luke Brown, Rhys Enoch
- 277 – Louis Albertse, Nathan Kimsey, Niklas Lemke, Shubhankar Sharma, Richard Mansell
- 278 – Matthew Southgate, Maximilian Steinlechner, Martin Rohwer, Franklin Manchest, Ryggs Johnston, Veer Ahlawat, Ryan Van Velzen, Richie Ramsay, Joost Luiten, Jordan Gumberg
- 279 – Alexander Levy, Sean Crocker, Thomas Aiken
- 280 – George Coetzee, Pieter Moolman
- 281 – Gavin Green, Kyle McClatchie, Andy Sullivan, Ewen Ferguson, Ben Schmidt, Luke Jerling, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, Hennie Otto
- 282 – Darius van Driel, Jaco Van Zyl
- 283 – Rhys West, Freddy Schott, Jacques P de Villiers
- 284 – Zander Lombard, Jens Dantorp, Jacques Blaauw, Martin Vorster
- 285 – Michael Hollick, Graham van der Merwe
- 287 – Ross Fisher, Danny List
- 296 – Benjamin Follett-Smith
Missed the Cut:
- 140 – Lyle Pedro, Ethan Smith, Stals Swart, MJ Viljoen, Louis de Jager, Simon Forsstrom, Robson Chinhoi, Casey Jarvis, Dan Bradbury, Alejandro Del Rey, Ricardo Gouveia, Kayle Wykes, Jordan Duminy, Merrick Bremner, Tom Vaillant, Wilco Nienaber, Heinrich Bruiners, Aaron Cockerill, Dylan Naidoo, Toto Thimba Jnr
- 141 – Haydn Porteous, Julien Brun, CJ du Plessis, Richard Sterne, Lucas Bjerregaard, Jack Senior, David Ravetto, Deon Germishuys, Tapio Pulkkanen, Combrinck Smit, Manuel Elvira, Jean Hugo
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Ding and Smith Share First-Round Lead at Rain-Soaked Joburg Open