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Charl Schwartzel wins Joburg Open

Sunday, 17 January 2010
Fergus Bisset
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Charl Schwartzel

South Africa's Charl Schwartzel claimed his second straight European Tour victory with a six shot win over Darren Clarke and Keith Horne in the Joburg Open.

Schwartzel fired four superb rounds to cruise home well ahead of the field and extend his lead at the top of the Race to Dubai. He also climbed into the World's top-50 and secured an invitation to this April's Masters.

It's been an amazing fortnight for Schwartzel who also won last week's Africa Open.
"I played pretty much flawless golf and I don't know what it comes down to - maybe a good positive frame of mind when you hit a bad shot," he said. "I'm leading the Order of Merit, but it's still early days and I think this will get me into The Masters. I'm very excited about that."
Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke enjoyed a promising week and was Schwartzel's closest challenger during the final round - the 41-year-old had a chance to narrow the gap to just one shot midway through the front nine before Schwartzel pulled away.

South Africa's Keith Horne finished strongly with a 64 to tie Clarke for second place. England's Danny Willett ended the week in a tie for fourth with James Kamte.

Schwartzel has a chance to become the first player to win three consecutive tournaments on the European Tour since Seve Ballesteros achieved the feat back in 1986. But, the young South African will have his work cut out to get past a very strong field that will assemble for this week's Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

Joburg Open
Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC, Johannesburg, South Africa
Jan 14-17, purse €1,300,000, par 71

1   Charl Schwartzel (RSA)   63   68   64   66   261   €206,050
T2   Darren Clarke (NIR)   63   69   67   68   267   €119,730
T2   Keith Horne (RSA)   68   65   70   64   267   €119,730
T4   James Kamte (RSA)   67   66   69   68   270   €58,760
T4   Danny Willett (Eng)   65   67   70   68   270   €58,760
T6   Soren Hansen (Den)   66   70   68   68   272   €36,107
T6   Joost Luiten (Ned)   66   69   69   68   272   €36,107
T6   Hennie Otto (RSA)   67   66   69   70   272   €36,107
T6   Peter Whiteford (Sco)   66   69   70   67   272   €36,107
T10   Josh Cunliffe (RSA)   68   70   67   68   273   €24,375
T10   John Parry (Eng)       66   67   71   69   273   €24,375

Note: Player scores in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only