Richie Ramsay wins South African Open Championship

Scotland’s Richie Ramsay claimed his first European Tour title at the South African Open Championship, coming through a playoff against Shiv Kapur of India.

Richie Ramsay
Fergus Bisset
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Scotland's Richie Ramsay claimed his first European Tour title at the South African Open Championship, coming through a playoff against Shiv Kapur of India.

Ramsay started the day five shots off the pace but the 25-year-old Aberdonian fired a fabulous final round of 65 to climb into a tie at the top of the leaderboard. Kapur then had a chance to win the tournament outright but his birdie putt on the 72nd green narrowly missed the cup.

Ramsay was bogey free during his final round and he continued that sparkling golf into the playoff, birdying the first extra hole to take the title.

"There's no greater feeling than winning and I'm just a flood of emotions - I'm holding back the tears," he said. "Things just went for me, but I am a lot more positive now - I go out believing and thinking I can win."

With the victory Ramsay climbed into the top 120 on the Official World Ranking having started the week in 240th spot. He's now the second best ranked Scot after Alastair Forsyth.

Anders Hansen finished third and that was enough to secure the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit title for the Dane. Italy's Edoardo Molinari continued his good recent form to finish in a tie for fourth with Fredrik Andersson Hed while overnight leader Pablo Martin fell away with a closing 73 to end the week in a tie for sixth.

South African Open Championship Pearl Valley Golf Estates, Western Cape, South Africa Dec 17-20, purse €1,000,000, par 72

1    Richie Ramsay (Sco)    67    75    68    65    275    €158,500 2    Shiv Kapur (Ind)        71    68    69    67    275    €115,000 3    Anders Hansen (Den)    66    69    72    69    276    €69,200 T4    Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 71  68  68    70    277    €45,200 T4    Edoardo Molinari (Ita)    68    69    69    71    277    €45,200 T6    Darren Fichardt (RSA)    73    71    68    66    278    €32,450 T6    Pablo Martin (Esp)    65    68    72    73    278    €32,450 T8    Michiel Bothma (RSA)    68    73    68    70    279    €20,080 T8    Soren Hansen (Den)    70    72    70    67    279    €20,080 T8    Michael Jonzon (Swe)    68    75    69    67    279    €20,080

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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