Golfer Schwartzel rides storm to retain Joburg title

16/01/2011 14:34 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - A superb short game under mid-round pressure steered defending champion Charl Schwartzel to a final-round 67 in the Joburg Open Sunday and a four-shot victory.

The 26-year-old who shared the second and third-round leads pocketed 195,000 euros and became only the third South African after Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman to win a European Tour event twice in succesion.

Garth Mulroy pipped fellow South African Thomas Aiken in the battle for second place, returning a par 71 to finish 15-under and one stroke ahead of his rival who finished with a 72.

Victory was the icing on the cake for Schwartzel, who has been consistently superb on the four-tournament South Africa leg of the Road to Dubai circuit, finishing one stroke behind the champion twice.

Schwartzel entered the final round level on 15 under with Aiken and Mulroy and made a birdie-par-birdie start to take a two-stroke advantage and was one ahead of his playing partners by the turn.

The tournament was won and lost over the next four holes as a series of wayward Schwartzel tee shots gave his rivals chances they could not grasp during a round played in light rain until the sun appeared in mid afternoon.

After salvaging pars on 10, 11 and 12 by holing pressure putts, Schwartzel steered his bunker shot at 13 into the hole for a birdie three, a three-stroke lead, and never looked in danger of loosening his grip.

Scot David Drysdale (77), who began the day just one shot off the pace, blew his chance of topping the leaderboard with a disastrous start that included a double bogey and two bogeys within four holes.