Saturday, December 15, 2007

Sterne takes title in playoffs

The South African, who trailed overnight leader Mark Murless by four shots at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, carded an impressive six-under-par 65 to finish level with Mulroy and Carlsson on 13 under. All three players birdied the first play-off hole but world number 44 Sterne then repeated the feat on the par-four 17th while compatriot Mulroy and Swede Carlsson could only manage pars. Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke also finished strongly with a three-under-par.Sterne's victory was his third European Tour title following wins at the Madrid Open in 2004 and last year's Wales Open at Celtic Manor. "It was actually quite enjoyable to be honest," said Sterne. "After the start I was quite far back and I knew I needed to get to 13 or 14 under." "I got close when I hit a couple great shots into the last. I thought 13 under was a good number and then I got close - I got 13 under in the end." "It was a tough day," he said. Any time you're favourite to win or anything like that, I think it's a little bit more pressure.

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