• Porteous outlasts Slattery to return to winner’s circle

    Haydn Porteous
    Porteous is the fifth South African winner on the European Tour this season
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    Haydn Porteous returned to the winner’s circle on Sunday after a well-crafted three-under-par 69 at the D+D Real Czech Masters in Prague, writes WADE PRETORIUS.

    The tears flowed on the 18th green at the Albatross Golf Resort as Porteous tapped in a par on the 72nd hole to end a torrid run on the European Tour.

    After his win at the 2016 Joburg Open, Porteous made just two of 16 cuts between this event last year and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, and started this week outside of the top 100; the number of players guaranteed playing privileges next season.

    Last week brought the 23-year-old his first top-10 of the season at the Made in Denmark and that result clearly lifted his morale. Starting the day two behind England’s Lee Slattery, Porteous started with two birdies to erase the deficit.

    Then things began to ebb and flow as he bogeyed the fourth hole before getting that shot back with a birdie on the sixth, before moving to three-under for the day when he made 4 on the ninth. Plain sailing it was not, as he surrendered two shots with bogeys at 10 and 11 before consolidating with a par on the 12th.

    Slattery was plus one at the same stage with only one birdie to his name as the competition went down to the wire.

    Despite being erratic off the tee, the South African dialled in his iron to the 16th to leave himself a tap-in birdie to stay one ahead with two to play. His strategy of irons off the final two tee boxes helped him double the amount of fairways found in regulation, but again, a superb iron helped him safely secure par at the penultimate hole.

    One-up with one to play, Porteous was safe in the knowledge that a two-putt would win the trophy after watching Slattery short-side himself long and left on the final hole. Left with a tricky putt from some distance, Porteous erased months of pain and self-doubt with a splendid two-putt before releasing some of the emotion in the company of his family. A worthy winner and a timely return to the European Tour’s elite winner’s circle.

    Dean Burmester was the next best South African after a 71 on Sunday helped him finish T14.

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