Europe’s Ryder Cup captain José María Olazábal failed to end his seven-year wait for a trophy as home favourite Branden Grace claimed the Volvo World Champions title at the Fancourt Links in the Western Cape in South Africa.
Olazábal, 45, was the lowest-ranked player in the select 35-man field at No 596 but went into the final round just two behind the leaders.
The US Masters champion in 1994 and 1999 has struggled with rheumatism and his last professional golf title was the Majorca Classic in 2005, so it would have been a hugely emotional triumph.
He started well, with two birdies taking him into a share of the lead, but then slipped back to finish sixth. Two other former major champions, Scotland’s Paul Lawrie and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, tied for 10th.
It was a special victory for Grace, who was following up his maiden tour win last week and became just the sixth golfer to win his first two European Tour events in back-to-back tournaments.
He needed a play-off to do it, however, beating compatriots Ernie Els and Retief Goosen after all three finished on 12-under-par. Grace birdied the 18th hole in the sudden-death play-off.
The South African, 23, should have wrapped up the win in regulation play as he stood over a four-foot putt for a birdie on the 18th, but he shovelled it wide to send the three back down the hole once again.
Els’s tee shot on the sudden-death hole was down the left and ran through the fairway into the rough, putting him under immediate pressure. The three-times major champion hacked out and then hit a superb long-iron that ended 15 feet from the hole, but sent his putt for birdie just wide.
Goosen hit his drive down the middle of a fairway and his second on to a bank just right of the green, but his hopes were ended by an awful chip that finished 25 feet short of the flag.
Grace hit a three-wood from the fairway on to the green and an excellent first putt ensured that he had another little four-footer for the win. This time he made no mistake and proved that last week’s Johannesburg Open success was no flash in the pan.
