Dylan Frittelli recorded his best Challenge Tour finish of the season with a tied-third result at the Made in Denmark Challenge, two shots behind winner Bernd Ritthammer.
Frittelli snapped a run of four missed cuts in a row with excellent opening rounds of 67 and 68 on the Aalborg Golf Club par-71 layout. The University of Texas alumni then gave himself a chance for the win with a one-under-par 70 on Saturday to trail 54-hole leader John Hahn by two shots.
Hahn cracked under pressure in the final round and shot 73. Frittelli, on the other hand, was upwardly mobile as despite starting with a bogey at the second, he picked up four birdies on his front nine to make the turn at 11-under-par. Trailing Ritthammer by one shot going down the home stretch, Frittelli stalled with a bogey at the 13th before picking up a birdie at the 14th. The Country Club Johannesburg member could not find another birdie on the day and a disappointing bogey on the last dropped him out of a tie for second with Jurrian van der Vaart. His closing 69 meant he ended at 10-under-par alongside Hahn and Alexander Knappe in third place.
The Country Club Johannesburg member could not find another birdie on the day and bogeyed the last to drop out of a tie for second with Jurrian van der Vaart. The South African’s closing 69 meant he totalled 10-under-par and joined Hahn and Alexander Knappe in third place.
There will be many positives that Frittelli can take from his showing in Denmark, and just like the Australian PGA Championship earlier in the season, he could have won it but for a bad shot here and there. If he keeps knocking the door will surely open, as it did when he won the 2013 Karnten Golf Open.
Other South Africans in the field on the weekend included Kloof Country Club member Martin Rohwer, who finished tied for 26th, and Oliver Bekker, who finished 75th and last of those who made the cut.
