Charl Schwartzel wins Joburg Open

South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel claimed his second straight European Tour victory with a six shot win over Darren Clarke and Keith Horne in the Joburg Open.

Charl Schwartzel
Fergus Bisset
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South Africa's Charl Schwartzel claimed his second straight European Tour victory with a six shot win over Darren Clarke and Keith Horne in the Joburg Open.

Schwartzel fired four superb rounds to cruise home well ahead of the field and extend his lead at the top of the Race to Dubai. He also climbed into the World's top-50 and secured an invitation to this April's Masters.

It's been an amazing fortnight for Schwartzel who also won last week's Africa Open. "I played pretty much flawless golf and I don't know what it comes down to - maybe a good positive frame of mind when you hit a bad shot," he said. "I'm leading the Order of Merit, but it's still early days and I think this will get me into The Masters. I'm very excited about that." Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke enjoyed a promising week and was Schwartzel's closest challenger during the final round - the 41-year-old had a chance to narrow the gap to just one shot midway through the front nine before Schwartzel pulled away.

South Africa's Keith Horne finished strongly with a 64 to tie Clarke for second place. England's Danny Willett ended the week in a tie for fourth with James Kamte.

Schwartzel has a chance to become the first player to win three consecutive tournaments on the European Tour since Seve Ballesteros achieved the feat back in 1986. But, the young South African will have his work cut out to get past a very strong field that will assemble for this week's Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

Joburg Open Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC, Johannesburg, South Africa Jan 14-17, purse €1,300,000, par 71

1    Charl Schwartzel (RSA)    63    68    64    66    261    €206,050 T2    Darren Clarke (NIR)    63    69    67    68    267    €119,730     T2    Keith Horne (RSA)    68    65    70    64    267    €119,730 T4    James Kamte (RSA)    67    66    69    68    270    €58,760 T4    Danny Willett (Eng)    65    67    70    68    270    €58,760 T6    Soren Hansen (Den)    66    70    68    68    272    €36,107 T6    Joost Luiten (Ned)    66    69    69    68    272    €36,107 T6    Hennie Otto (RSA)    67    66    69    70    272    €36,107 T6    Peter Whiteford (Sco)    66    69    70    67    272    €36,107 T10    Josh Cunliffe (RSA)    68    70    67    68    273    €24,375 T10    John Parry (Eng)        66    67    71    69    273    €24,375

Note: Player scores in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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