20 June 2006

It was another good week for South African golfers around the globe, with Martin Maritz narrowly missing out on his maiden European Tour title in France, Brenden Pappas claiming a top-five finish on the Nationwide Tour, and Trevor Immelman ending joint twenty-first at the US Open.

European Tour
Martin Maritz came achingly close to winning his first European Tour title on Sunday at the Aa St Omer Open in France, but a momentary loss of concentration meant settling for a share of second.

Maritz, who started the final day two shots off the pace of overnight leader Henrik Nystrom of Sweden, enjoyed a strong start to the day, taking the early lead at 10 under par.

He looked the likely winner until the turn, when two poor chip shots saw him take a bogey six on the par-five ninth, which visibly drained his confidence. Unable to get the momentum back, Maritz opened the gate for Argentinean Cesar Monasterio to go on to victory.

A brilliant up-and-down at the eighteenth sealed a maiden victory on four-under-par 67 for Monasterio, with Maritz unable to birdie the seventy-second hole to force a play-off. Nystrom birdied the last to tie Maritz in second place on nine-under-par 275, with Juan Parron of Spain and another South African, Jean Hugo, sharing fourth place.

Victory for Maritz would have meant a priceless exemption to the European Tour for the remainder of the season and the whole of 2007, as well as a first place prize of €66 660.

But he can take heart from the fact that he is back contending in Europe after suffering an unlikely dip in form over the past year-and-a-half. He did walk away with the consolation prize, a respectable cheque of €34 740, but more importantly jumped to 163rd on the European Tour Order of Merit.

Nationwide Tour
American Hunter Haas stepped into the winner's circle for the second time in three years on Sunday at the $475 000 Knoxville Open, coasting to a five-stroke victory.

Haas, who began the day with a two-shot lead over South Africa's Brenden Pappas, birdied the first hole at the par-72 Fox Den Country Club and never looked back.

He posted a final round three-under-par 69 to finish the event at 19-under-par 269, five strokes in front of Parker McLachlin (69) and Gary Christian (66) and six strokes ahead of Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge, who turned in the low round of the day with a seven-under-par 66.

De Jonge tied for fourth alongside Franklin Langham and Pappas, who posted a final round 73.

US Open
Trevor Immelman took the local honours at the US Open on Sunday with a final round five-over-par 75 to tie for twenty-first on 12-over-par 292.

World number seven Ernie Els carded a final round 72 to tie for twenty-sixth, one stroke behind Immelman, while double Sunshine Tour Order of Merit winner Charl Schwartzel closed off his first US Open appearance with a final round 75 for a share of forty-eighth on 17-over 297.

Geoff Ogilvy of Australia won his first major title in the dying minutes of the 106th US Open after he holed a six-foot putt for par at the final hole to finish on five-over-par 285. Phil Mickelson double-dropped the final hole to hand Ogilvy the title.

European Challenge Tour
Sweden's Kalle Brink won the Lexus Open after two miraculous shots propelled him to a three-stroke victory at Larvik Golf Club in Norway, while South Africa's Anton Haig fought back with a final round 68 to move from sixty-first to tie for forty-first on four-under-par 68.

Canadian Tour
Indiana native Lee Williamson won his third Canadian Tour title in his last nine starts on Sunday with a tight one-shot win at the Greater Vancouver Charity Classic to open the Canadian summer season.

A final-round even-par 72 for a total score of eight-under-par 280 gave him a one-shot edge on fellow Americans Jason Hartwick and Andy Doeden and six strokes on Namibia's Trevor Dodds, who tied for eleventh.

European Senior Tour
A brilliant birdie at the last hole gave former Ryder Cup player José Rivero a dramatic one-shot victory in the lucrative FIRSTPLUS Wales Seniors Open at The Vale Hotel, Golf & Spa Resort near Cardiff.

South Africa's Bobby Lincoln and Zimbabwe's Tony Johnstone both closed eight shots back on four-over-par 220 to tie for thirteenth.

World Golf Rankings
Geoff Ogilvy, winner of the US Open at Winged Foot, began 2006 as world number 50. In February he won the World Golf Championship-Accenture Match Play and, with this Major victory, improved nine places to eighth on the world golf rankings.

Phil Mickelson closed the gap on Tiger Woods at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking to 5.74 average points following his tie for second at the US Open. Woods' total number of weeks at world number one is now 396.

SA Players in the World Top 200

	South Africa's Trevor Immelman has become a consistently good performer on the US PGA Tour

	SA golfers continue to deliver Pappas wins on Nationwide Tour SA golfers score worldwide Golfurlaub in Südafrika Les vacances du golf en Afrique du Sud Teenage phenomenon doubles up Sabbatini's biggest golf win yet Golf holidays in South Africa SA golf's best recognised Sun, surf & golf Humewood: 2006 SAA Open host SA golf courses in world top 100 South African golf: a success story SA golf tourism gains pace

	Ernie Els  Official World Golf Rankings  US PGA Tour  PGA European Tour  US PGA Champions Tour  Tim Clark  Sunshine Tour

Golf courses in South Africa Our climate is ideal for spending time out on the fairways, and when it comes to courses, golfers here are blessed for choice.