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Fichardt secures Joburg title

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Darren Fichardt birdied his final hole to claim a one-shot victory on home soil at the weather-affected Joburg Open.

The South African posted a four-under 68 at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC to secure a fifth European Tour title and his first since 2013.

Victory secures Fichardt a place in the field for The Open at Royal Birkdale, live on Sky Sports, with joint runners-up Paul Waring and Stuart Manley claiming the other qualification spots.

Heavy rain and course flooding throughout the week forced the tournament to be reduced to 54-holes, with play delayed by a further two hours on Sunday morning.

Fichardt lost his share of the overnight lead when Waring eagled the par-five first, only for the Englishman to give a shot back with a bogey-five at the third.

Kruyswijk joined the group on 12 under by birdieing two of his opening three holes, before matching Fichardt’s gains at the sixth and eighth.

The South African then drained a 40-footer at the ninth to reach the turn with a one-shot advantage, before cancelling out a blemish at the 10th with a birdie-three at the next.

Fichardt moved back tied at the top with a gain at the par-three 12th and pulled two strokes clear at the 14th, where he holed an eight-footer to save par as Kruyswijk found water and double-bogeyed.

Stuart Manley birdied his final two holes to close a third consecutive 67 and halve Fichardt’s cushion, with Waring picking up a shot at the 16th to also move within one of the lead.

A bogey at the penultimate hole briefly dropped Fichardt in to a three-way tie for the lead alongside Waring and Manley, only to secure victory with a tap-in gain at the last.

Top seed Brandon Stone finished with back-to-back birdies to join Kruyswijk and James Morrison in a share of fourth spot on 10 under.

A round-of-the-day 65 from George Coetzee moved the home favourite in to a four-way tie for seventh that also included England’s Aaron Rai, with Lee Slattery part of the group a further two strokes back.

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