PAARL, South Africa: Britain’s Richie Ramsay won the South African Open after defeating Shiv Kapur in a sudden-death playoff at Pearl Valley Golf Estates on Sunday.
The 2006 US Amateur champion’s first European Tour win came after both he and India’s Kapur were tied at 13 under par at the end of regulation play.
The playoff on the 18th hole was a short-lived affair. Kapur pulled his tee shot left into shrubbery, while Scotland’s Ramsay kept his ball out of trouble just off the right edge of the fairway.
Ramsay hit his second to around 12 feet of the pin and two-putted for a birdie and the title.
The 26-year-old had started the day five off the lead at six under par but the limited progress of the leaders and his bogey-free 65 meant his early clubhouse mark of 13-under was competitive.
Kapur had a great start with the putter in regulation, after beginning the day three off the lead.
He picked up five birdies in the first nine holes before a three-putt at the 11th briefly set him back but a birdie at the par-five 13th took him back to 13 under.
Denmark’s Anders Hansen finished third for the second successive week on the European Tour, one stroke shy of Kapur and Ramsay.
However, his effort was enough to ensure the South African Sunshine Tour Order of Merit title for 2009.
A double-bogey at the third cost Hansen and although he picked up four birdies, he still needed an eagle at the 18th to join the playoff.
After hitting the green in two, the Dane sent his putt some way past the hole.
Overnight leader Pablo Martin, who won last weekend’s Alfred Dunhill Championship, struggled with his putter and finished tied for sixth on 10 under.
The Spaniard never recovered from a bogey at the third and had to wait until the 14th hole to pick up his only birdie of the day. A bogey at the par-four 17th left Martin with no chance of catching the leading duo.
The South African Open is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Sunshine Tour.
