– Shaun Norris (-13) has claimed the Alfred Dunhill Championship with a final round of 67 strokes this Sunday. It was the third-best card of the day and the lowest of the last 24 matches of the day at Leopard Creek. Only Nacho Elvira (-7) and Julien Guerrier (-7), both with 66 strokes playing together, surpassed the champion’s numbers.
– Norris surged ahead of everyone. He teed off an hour and ten minutes before the leading group and ended up taking the victory. It really seemed that his -13 would be insufficient. There were many contenders to improve it, all with two or three par 5s ahead (13, 15, and 18). But today in Kruger Park it was once again evident how difficult it is to reach or surpass a score that already looks carefree in the clubhouse.
– Ryan Van Velzen (-12), John Parry (-12), Ángel Ayora (-11), and Marcus Kinhult (-12) seemed the chosen ones to win. All of them reached -13 or -14 at some point during their rounds. However, Van Velzen faltered with a bogey on the last hole, sending his second shot into the water. He had a three-metre putt to force a playoff, but it slipped away. Parry was unable to make a birdie in the last eight holes, Ayora, who also went into the water on the 18th seeking victory, went cold in the last nine, and Kinhult sabotaged himself with a four-putt on the 7th hole, a good reflection of how irregular his final round was. It is the first time since 2010 that a player leading by two or more strokes in the final round has not won this tournament, as Kinhult did. It must be said that the Swede contributed significantly to this outcome.
– Norris’s victory should not have caught anyone who follows this 42-year-old veteran player’s career off guard. After all, he has had one of the best years of his life on the Japan Tour and, moreover, he came from winning the last tournament he played, two weeks ago, the Golf Nippon Series GT Cup. He arrived in form at Leopard Creek. In fact, of his last five tournaments, he has won two, finished second once, and fourth another time.
– It is Norris’s second triumph on the DP World Tour. The first came in 2022. He won the Steyn City Championship in South Africa. He may not be the most renowned player on the DP World Tour, but it is undeniable that he has a knack for securing victories. After all, in the last ten years, he has only missed out on a victory in two occasions (2020 and 2023). He is also a globetrotter. He has played on the Sunshine Tour, DP World Tour, Challenge Tour, Asian Tour, Japan Tour, PGA Tour, and even in LIV Golf.
– If many should not be surprised by Norris’s victory, what can be said about the fact that he is South African. He upholds the tradition. It is the thirteenth South African victory in the last 19 editions.
– The Sullivan factor. Do not be surprised if at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic there is a scramble to play alongside Andy Sullivan on Sunday. It turns out that the Englishman was the tee time partner last week in the final round of Johannes Veerman, winner of the Nedbank Golf Challenge, and today he has repeated with the champion. He was Shaun Norris‘s playing partner in the last 18 holes.
