American David Lipsky put on a short-game masterclass on Sunday to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek by two strokes on 14-under par.
Not even a double-bogey five on the par-three 16th was enough to stop him from cruising home ahead of Scot David Drysdale, with Zander Lombard and Scott Jamieson sharing third a further shot back.
‘My wedge play and my short game was really on this week. It’s definitely one of the strengths of my game, but this week, I definitely beat the odds,’ he said with a laugh. ‘I hit so many sand wedges to within 10 feet and that’s what got me the win.’
The win was his second on the European Tour after his first came in the Omega European Masters in Switzerland in 2014.
But he had a shaky moment on the homeward nine when Lombard turned on the afterburners in an attempt to catch him – and Lipsky looked for a brief moment as if he might falter.
Lombard had responded to consecutive bogeys on eight and nine with five threes in a row after the turn, including three birdies and a superb eagle on 13. And Lipsky hit his tee shot on 13 into the hazard on the left to leave local fans thinking the leader was feeling the pressure.
Lipsky responded with a superb par-save on 13 – thanks to a laser-guided chip which ended up close to the pin as usual – and then he emphasised his superiority on the day with an approach to 15 which he nearly holed. The tap-in birdie set things back on track again. ‘I probably wanted to be a little more stress-free than that, but it ended up working out,’ he said.
Lombard kept pushing, and paid the price when he found the water on the par-five 15th – he saved par there. But overly aggressive play on the tough 16th saw him make a six on the par-three after two visits to the water, and his chances were gone. With Lipsky’s big lead restored, even the double-bogey on 16 was merely a brief speed wobble.
He came down 18 with just a hint of a swagger. ‘I hit driver-nine-iron on 18, believe it or not,’ he said of the par-five which has destroyed many a player’s hopes. ‘I smashed my drive. I’ve been hitting it pretty deep this whole week, making good contact. I caught it on the last and it made the hole a little easier for me, especially with what was on the line.’
To win again after four years was huge for Lipsky. ‘It’s indescribable,’ he said. ‘Winning is what we all hope to do. That’s what we all practice for, it’s what we all put in the time for – blood sweat and tears to be here.
‘This was a tough year for me. I haven’t played that well. I really struggled. I kept my card, but I struggled – I’m not going to lie. To cap it off with a win at the end of the year is so special and I’m really looking forward to big things in 2019.’
Drysdale capped a splendid week with his closing 67, while Jamieson battled bravely to overcome six bogeys on his way to a level-par 72.
Final leaderboard:
274 – David Lipsky 70 66 70 68
276 – David Drysdale 69 69 71 67
277 – Zander Lombard 71 69 68 69, Scott Jamieson 71 66 68 72
280 – Oliver Wilson 70 69 72 69, Ben Evans 70 70 71 69
281 – Niklas Lemke 72 68 70 71, Louis Oosthuizen 71 69 70 71
282 – Oliver Bekker 66 73 75 68, Adri Arnaus 70 73 69 70, Pablo Larrazabal 69 73 67 73
283 – Neil Schietekat 72 72 70 69, Darren Fichardt 69 70 73 71, Dylan Frittelli 69 70 72 72
284 – Robert Macintyre 70 71 72 71, Romain Langasque 74 68 69 73, Brandon Stone 69 70 69 76
285 – Jean-Paul Strydom 74 72 72 67, Masahiro Kawamura 72 71 72 70, Chris Paisley 75 70 70 70, Matt Wallace 74 71 70 70, Max Orrin 71 74 67 73, Sean Crocker 72 68 71 74, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 75 69 66 75, Raphael Jacquelin 68 75 66 76
286 – Jack Singh Brar 73 70 74 69, David Law 72 73 72 69, Jaco Prinsloo 73 70 72 71, George Coetzee 73 70 71 72, Ernie Els 73 67 73 73, Alejandro Canizares 75 67 71 73, Erik van Rooyen 70 70 72 74, Marc Warren 70 67 72 77
287 – Matias Calderon 72 69 75 71, Richard Sterne 74 69 73 71, Branden Grace 73 72 70 72, Doug McGuigan 72 66 76 73, Jeff Winther 72 69 73 73, Kalle Samooja 74 68 71 74, Justin Walters 74 71 68 74, Adilson da Silva 71 71 69 76
288 – Hyowon Park 69 77 74 68, Kristoffer Reitan 73 73 70 72, Espen Kofstad 69 72 73 74, Victor Perez 73 68 73 74, Kim Koivu 75 65 71 77
289 – Deyen Lawson 72 73 74 70, Steven Brown 72 73 72 72, Robert Karlsson 69 72 73 75, JC Ritchie 78 68 68 75
290 – Lyle Rowe 73 73 74 70, Peter Hanson 75 71 74 70, Keenan Davidse 72 71 75 72, Dimitrios Papadatos 67 72 78 73, Bernd Wiesberger 70 72 70 78
291 – JacovVan Zyl 73 71 74 73, Guido Migliozzi 71 72 72 76, Ockie Strydom 70 74 71 76, Matthew Jordan 71 72 71 77, David Borda 72 74 68 77
292 – Daniel Greene 74 70 74 74
293 – Joachim B. Hansen 73 70 71 79
294 – Tom Murray 71 75 73 75, Thomas Aiken 73 72 71 78
296 – Bernd Ritthammer 73 72 79 72
297 – Peter Karmis 76 70 78 73, Gregory Bourdy 75 71 76 75, Alex Haindl 76 69 75 77
298 – Scott Vincent 71 75 77 75
299 – Chase Koepka 73 72 75 79, Chris Swanepoel 72 74 74 79
303 – Jean Hugo 73 73 78 79
305 – Mark Williams 75 69 79 82
