European Tour Weekend Review

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

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BRANDON STONE enjoyed his second victory of 2016, winning the Alfred Dunhill Championship by seven shots after a final round of 67. He won the South African Open in January and finished 50th in the Race to Dubai but, in truth, he failed to fulfil his undoubted potential.

Many people believe that Stone has it in him to become one of the best players South Africa has ever produced - and that is saying something. He is especially hard on himself when things do not go his way, but there was no evidence of that at Leopard Creek Country Club as he produced one stunning shot after another.

Richard Sterne finished was second on 15 under after posting a bogey-free 67 in his final round, while Belgium's Thomas Detry was two strokes further back in third.

Despite the margin of Stone's victory, he was actually caught at the top of the leaderboard early in the final round when Charl Schwartzel, a four-time winner, birdied three of his opening six holes to join Stone on 17 under par.

Stone parred the first five holes but moved back into the lead with a birdie on the sixth. He also picked up shots at the seventh and 10th, where he holed a bunker shot. Further birdies followed at the 11th, 13th and 14th and with Schwartzel dropping shots, the 23-year-old found himself six in front. Stone dropped only his second shot of the day at the 17th before finishing with a birdie at the last to move to 22 under.

He said: "To get this win before Christmas is obviously great but more importantly it gets me a good start on the Race to Dubai. I was tied for the lead at one stage. But I knew my game plan was to try to get maybe one or two under par through the turn and try to score on the back nine.

"I knew I could score and I holed some great putts at the first three holes on that back nine which really got the momentum going. I just played some incredible golf the whole week to be fair. I think my ball striking this week was superb from the first hole to the last.

“That score that I shot this week – 22 under par around here is not a simple task – to do that is obviously quite something.”

There was an encouraging performance by Graeme Storm, of England. He gained the final tour card for 2016-17 season and is determined not to put himself through that sort of pain again. He finished on 12 under, in a tie for fourth place with a group of other players, including Schwartzel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5WkOnLtuVk

HAROLD VARNER III won his first professional tournament, ending 17 years of home domination with a brilliant final round of 65 in the Australian PGA Championship in brutal conditions at Royal Pines Resort in Queensland. The field had to cope with a strong, gusting wind, lightning-quick greens and temperatures touching 90F

Just 12 months ago, the little American began the final round of this same tournament sharing the lead but a disappointing 75 saw him finish tied with Nathan Holman, and the Australian went on to win in a playoff. This time he began the final round trailing 54-hole leader Andrew Dodt by two shots, with the latter expected to become the latest home golfer to win an an event that is jointly-sanctioned by the European and Australasian Tours.

Varner turned professional four years ago and enjoyed a successful season on the PGA Tour without winning. He has been overshadowed by the likes of Justin Thomas, but is a hugely talented golfer, as he proved in seeing off Dodt's challenge.

The two men both played some superb golf, trading blows like heavyweight fighters down the stretch, but Varner's second 65 of the week saw him win by two shots and finish on 19 under par.

The last non-Australian to win was Greg Turner, of New Zealand, way back in 1999. Queenslander Dodt signed for a bogey-free 69 to finish on 17 under, two shots clear of countryman and 2013 champion Adam Scott.

Another Australian, Ashley Hall, was 14 under, four ahead of Brett Rumford, who lost his tour card at the end of last season. Australian amateur Brett Coletta finished in the group at eight under alongside countryman John Senden and Darius van Driel of the Netherlands.

Challenge Tour graduate Ryan Fox was on seven under, a shot ahead of Stephen Gallacher, Scott Hend, Romain Langasque, Tom Lewis and Prom Meesawat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHzZWtXbjFs

Varner was thrilled. “That was pretty awesome, I had a lot of fun out there today," he said. "I’ve thought a lot about losing the play-off here last year, it was the closest I came to winning last season so it’s been playing on my mind a little bit. I’m now a much better, more mature player than I was 12 months ago, and this win is big for me. Winning is hard, I don’t care where you tee it up, so to get it done feels great and I think we’re going to have a good night celebrating in the casino tonight.”

Dodt accepted that he had been beaten by the better man on the day. “That was some round by Harold, to shoot seven under on the final day in those conditions is very special, so hats off to him. That was as good as it gets. I’m pretty proud of the way I handled myself out there today, I would’ve taken a bogey-free 69 at the start of the day, but it wasn’t good enough in the end. It wasn’t my day on the greens, especially on the front nine. I gave it a good go on the back nine, but Harold was just too good today. It’s as simple as that.”