Steyn City Championship: Shaun Norris survives scare to claim maiden DP World Tour victory | Golf News

Norris won the Steyn City Championship on home soil after Dean Burmester’s late double-bogey gifted his South African compatriot the victory; Matti Schmid and Oliver Bekker both finished in a share of third

Shaun Norris secured a thrilling victory at the Steyn City Championship

Shaun Norris recovered from throwing away a four-shot lead to claim a three-stroke victory and maiden DP World Tour title at the Steyn City Championship.

Norris quickly saw his overnight advantage disappear during a thrilling final round at The Club in Steyn City, where he bogeyed his opening two holes and found himself one behind when Burmester followed a birdie at the sixth with an eagle-two at the seventh.

Burmester found himself two ahead when he took advantage of the par-five 10th and matched Norris’ birdies at the par-four next, only for Norris to pull level with compatriot with birdies at the 14th and 16th.

A three-shot swing on the penultimate hole saw Norris post a birdie-two and Burmester rack up a double-bogey six, with a final-hole par seeing Norris close out an eventful two-under 70 and end the week on 25 under.

“I stayed patient and kept my head, and eventually things fell into place,” an emotional Norris told reporters. “I was hitting the ball nicely and I gave myself chances. Things started going my way.

“I don’t think words can describe how I feel right now. It’s been a tough journey and having my brother on the bag, my wife here, my little girl – splendid, I can’t explain. It’s absolutely beautiful doing this in front of my home crowd and in front of my family.”

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Burmester’s late error saw the highest-ranked player in the field close a final-round 69 and finish in solo second, three strokes ahead of both Germany’s Matti Schmid and South African Oliver Bekker.

Tapio Pukkanen birdied his final three holes to close a five-under 67 and claim a share of fifth with halfway leader James Hart du Preez and Denmark’s Joachim B Hansen, while England’s Dale Whitnell posted back-to-back 67s over the weekend to finish inside the top-10.

The DP World Tour season continues on Thursday at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, live on Sky Sports, with April’s schedule seeing The Masters followed by back-to-back tournaments in Spain.