Christiaan Bezuidenhout eagles last to grab Dimension Data from George Coetzee

Christiaan Bezuidenhout winner of the 2020 Dimension Data Pro-Am
It took an eagle by Christiaan Bezuidenhout to land the Dimension Data Pro-Am trophy featuring an eagle at Fancourt, beating George Coetzee by one. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

CHRISTIAAN Bezuidenhout completed a wire-to-wire victory at the Dimension Data Pro-Am thanks to a stunning eagle on the 72nd hole at Fancourt Golf Estate.

The South African stood on the par five 18th tee on Fancourt’s Montagu Course, trailing countryman George Coetzee by one stroke.

But Bezuidenhout hit an incredible second shot to six feet and holed the eagle putt to card a five-under par 67 and reach 25-under for the tournament – one clear of Coetzee.

Bezuidenhout began the day two strokes ahead of his nearest challengers.

But he was forced to produce his best golf until the end as he held his nerve to secure an emotional victory in a tournament which he has always wanted to win.

“To win it with an eagle on the last is really special,” said Bezuidenhout.

“This is a special event for the South African boys and I’ve always wanted to put my name on that trophy. I’ve done it now, so I’m pretty pleased.

“I actually thought I just needed a birdie on the last hole. I was going at the flag because I knew I needed to birdie, or eagle, to win it – and it came out perfect.

“To have a six-foot putt to win was great,” added Christiaan, whose breakthrough victory on the European Tour came at Valderrama in the Andalucia Masters, last May.

Bezuidenhout, who had one Sunshine Tour win to his name before the weekend, revealed: “I’m just going to keep on going and keep doing my best.

“Me and my coach are working on some great stuff and I’m just going to keep on going.”

The 25-year-old is now projected to move into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career, offering the chance of a debut at The Masters, in April.

Coetzee, who could only par the final hole which left the door open for Bezuidenhout to take advantage, finished second on 24-under, two strokes clear of Richard Sterne in third.

Spain’s Santiago Tarrio Ben finished as the highest-placed European player in fourth place on 17-under.

Road to Mallorca Number One JC Ritchie was a place and a shot further back to record his third successive top 10 finish on the European Challenge Tour, after his win at the Limpopo Championship last month.

Past winners of the Dimenson Data include Paul Lawrie, Darren Clarke, Louis Oosthuizen, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman and Nick Price – who have nine Majors between them, as well as Lee Westwood and Branden Grace.

Between 1996 and 2009 the Dimension Data Pro-Am was played at Sun City’s Gary Player Country Club before its switch to Fancourt.

•To see the final results in the Dimension Data Pro-Am click here.

Dimension Data Pro-am win earns Bezuidenhout WGC spot at St Jude

BEZUIDENHOUT’S victory earns him a spot in the WGC – FedEx St Jude Invitational in Memphis, Tennessee, in July.

He will will also tee it up in the first World Golf Championships event of the year in Mexico later this week, a spot which he earned through his finish on the 2019 Race to Dubai Rankings.

Ritchie leads the Road to Mallorca Rankings on 49,167 points following his third top 10 in as many events, while RAM Cape Town Open Champion Anton Karlsson is second.

South African trio Wilco Nienaber, Garrick Higgo and Jacques Kruyswijk occupy spots three to five, respectively, while Tarrio Ben has jumped from 43rd place to sixth following his fourth place finish in George.

•To see the Road to Mallorca rankings click here.

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