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Richie Ramsay wins South African Open Championship

Sunday, 20 December 2009
Fergus Bisset
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Richie Ramsay

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