South African Open Championship 2015: Daily Leaderboard Updates and Highlights

The South African Open Championship marks the beginning of the European Tour's season, and there is no question that several of the world's best golfers would love to get 2015 off to a great start with a victory.

Hopefully it's a sign of things to come as well, with Andy Sullivan triumphing in what was an enthralling climax to a thoroughly entertaining tournament.

Here is a full recap of how the tournament played out.

Round 4 Recap

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England's Andy Sullivan won the South African Open Championship in dramatic fashion, overcoming Charl Schwartzel in a sudden-death playoff.

Schwartzel held a five-shot lead going into the final day and for long spells it looked as though he had the title sewn up.

But he dropped three shots in the last three holes, leading to a playoff with the Englishman. Sullivan played a poor opening shot in the playoff but a sensational second into the 18th green broke South African hearts and handed him his first win on the European Tour.

Here's how the leaderboard looked at the end of the tournament and a look back at a dramatic day of golf at the Glendower Golf Club, courtesy of EuropeanTour.com:

	Player	To Par	Round 4 Score
T1	Andy Sullivan	-11	67
T1	Charl Schwartzel	-11	74
3	Lee Slattery	-10	69
4	Pablo Martin Benavides	-9	69
T5	Alessandro Tadini	-7	69
T5	Thomas Aiken	-7	70
T5	Jared Harvey	-7	71
T5	Paul Maddy	-7	71
T5	Gary Stal	-7	71
T5	Matthew Fitzpatrick	-7	73

Firstly, credit must go to the Englishman who put together an excellent final round of 65. His final 18 holes contained four birdies and an eagle, and as we can see here courtesy of the European Tour Twitter account, Sullivan produced some wonderful shots as the tournament came to a close:

Indeed, Sullivan was just short in his birdie putt on the last hole and if that had dropped, he would have won the tournament outright. But he was to be given a major reprieve by Schwartzel, whose game crumbled in the latter stages:

Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

The home crowd favourite hadn’t enjoyed his greatest day out on course but going into the 16th hole he had a three-shot lead intact and the title—one he’s yet to win—looked to be well within his grasp. But remarkably, the South African would be level with Sullivan walking down the last fairway needing a par putt to take the tournament to a playoff.

Schwartzel took six at the par four 16th hole and dropped another shot at the 17th. He left himself a very long putt to win the tournament at the difficult last hole and although he missed that narrowly, a par meant that we were set for sudden death

As noted by golf writer Shane Bacon, it was quite the collapse from the South African:

The momentum was clearly with Sullivan going into the sudden death showdown and he cut a relaxed figure on the practice range while waiting for the result from the course. 

Both players played poor opening shots in the playoff, but a stunning second shot from Sullivan got him close to the flag and he knocked in a putt for the championship from the edge of the green. Schwartzel will be left to reflect on his appalling collapse and another wonderful chance missed to win his home tournament.

Round 3 Recap

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Charl Schwartzel established a commanding lead after Saturday's play in Ekurhuleni, the South African shooting a superb round off 66 to move to the top of the leaderboard on 13 under par and into pole position ahead of Sunday's final round.

Johannesburg-born Schwartzel sits five shots ahead of the second-placed pair, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Scotsman David Drysdale, who are on eight under.

Andy Sullivan, the leader at the halfway stage, could card only a two over round of 74 on Saturday and he slipped back to six under par.

Here is a look at the leaderboard with just one round remaining in the 2015 South African Open Championship, courtesy of EuropeanTour.com:

Position	Player	To Par	Round 3 Score
1	Charl Schwartzel	-13	66
T2	Matthew Fitzpatrick	-8	67
T2	David Drysdale	-8	68
4	Lee Slattery	-7	65
T5	Richard Sterne	-6	69
T5	Gary Stal	-6	69
T5	Paul Maddy	-6	68
T5	Jared Harvey	-6	70
T5	Pablo Martin Benavides	-6	71
T5	Colin Nel	-6	72

Schwartzel got off to a storming start on Saturday, claiming four birdies on the opening four holes of his round.

He then handed a shot back with a bogey on the seventh, but four more birdies and just one other dropped shot—on the par-five 13th—saw him home in impressive fashion, per the European Tour:

The 2011 Masters champion was clearly delighted to open up such a fine lead and is eager to claim the title in his native country on Sunday, per EuropeanTour.com:

"

I hit some really good shots but had quite a mixed bag with some really great shots and great saves, but some bad shots that maybe had some good breaks. In the big world people look at the Majors but coming from South Africa this is pretty much a Major for South Africans. It will be nice to go out and keep swinging the way I am tomorrow.

"

England's Fitzpatrick recovered from a chequered front nine—which included three bogeys and two birdies—to go six under on the back nine, including an eagle three on the 13th, and he finished with an impressive round of 67.

Drysdale carded a 68 to move to eight under, but it was Lee Slattery who shot the round of the day with a seven-under 65 without a bogey in sight.

As golf writer Ken Borland notes, it was a phenomenal round, and it proves that Schwartzel can be caught despite his comfortable lead:

Elsewhere, local favourite Ernie Els recovered from his calamitous 77 on Friday to pick up three shots with a round of 69 on Saturday.

He now sits on three under for the tournament, thus victory is out of reach, but he could jump further up the leaderboard with another good showing on the final day.

It is Schwartzel's tournament to lose and, with such a big lead to second place, he should go on to claim victory on Sunday. 

Round 2 Recap

England's Andy Sullivan seized sole leadership of the South African Open Championship Friday with a two-under 70 after ending the opening round with a share of the lead. Other contenders through one round weren't so fortunate, however.

Here is a look at the leaderboard from Glendower Golf Club through two rounds, courtesy of EuropeanTour.com:

Position	Golfer	To Par	Round 1	Round 2
1	Andy Sullivan	-8	66	70
2	Charl Schwartzel	-7	68	69
T3	Lasse Jensen	-6	67	71
T3	Colin Nel	-6	68	70
T3	JJ Senekal	-6	71	67
T6	Pablo Martin Benavides	-5	71	68
T6	Alessandro Tadini	-5	71	68
T6	John Parry	-5	70	69
T9	Jared Harvey	-4	71	69
T9	David Drysdale	-4	68	72
T9	Rikard Karlberg	-4	70	70
T9	James Morrison	-4	71	69

Sullivan's second round seemed somewhat ordinary compared to his six-under performance Thursday, but it was good enough to stand atop the field at eight-under par for the tournament.

The Englishman may have had a bit of luck on his side as things worked out well for him at times even when he thought he had made a bad shot, as seen in this video of his approach on the ninth hole, courtesy of The European Tour on Twitter:

Sullivan didn't have to be spectacular Friday due largely to the fact that many around him faltered. That includes South Africa's Jbe Kruger, who entered the second round in a first-place tie with Sullivan.

Kruger now sits at two-over par for the tournament, which was barely good enough to make the cut, after shooting an eight-over 80 Friday, per The European Tour:

That was the worst performance by any golfer in the top 140 through two rounds, and Kruger currently sits in a tie of 58th place, which essentially makes a title impossible.

Even more shocking than Kruger's fall from grace, though, were the struggles of Ernie Els. The five-time South African Open Championship winner, four-time major winner and South African golfing legend played his way out of contention as well in the second round.

Els was just one shot behind the leaders after Thursday's round, however, he is now eight shots back at even-par for the tourney following a five-over 77.

While Els was scuffling to the tune of one-over through eight holes, things truly fell apart on the ninth and 10th. As pointed out by Adam Sarson of The Score, The Big Easy totally unraveled on those two holes with a pair of sevens:

Adding in his bogey on the eighth hole, Els dropped seven shots in three holes and was in grave danger of missing the cut, per The European Tour:

Els acknowledged the difficult round after he finished, but he also tried to stay positive regarding the crowd support he received:

There is no doubt that Els can do some special things when he is locked in, but it is tough to imagine him vying for his sixth South African Open Championship trophy after such a disastrous round.

One South African star who didn't fade, though, was Charl Schwartzel. The former Masters champ shot a three-under 69, and he enters the third round just one stroke behind Sullivan for the lead.

Per IMG Golf, Schwartzel was especially clutch down the stretch as he picked up four strokes on the final three holes, turning a mediocre round into a great one:

Schwartzel is undoubtedly the in best position to win among South Africans, although both Colin Nel and JJ Senekal are in the mix as well at six-under.

Senekal had the second-best round of the day at five-under, but he was topped by France's Gary Stal, who shot a six-under 66, according to The European Tour:

Stal is lurking five shots behind the leader, so he certainly has some work to do, but he can cut into Sullivan's lead even more if he continues to play at this level.

This tournament has gotten even more interesting through two rounds, especially with a top contender like Els falling back. Sullivan remains in control, but it can be argued that Schwartzel is the favorite due to the home-soil advantage.

The chaotic nature of the South African Championship Open could just as easily allow someone else to emerge, though, which means an exciting weekend is ahead.

Round 1 Recap

The opening round of the 2015 South African Championship featured plenty of excellent play, especially from a number of home-country golfers. In the end, South Africa's Jbe Kruger finished Thursday's opening round tied for the lead at six-under par with Andy Sullivan of England.

Here is a rundown of the leaderboard, courtesy of EuropeanTour.com:

Position	Golfer	To Par	Round 1
T1	Jbe Kruger	-6	66
T1	Andy Sullivan	-6	66
T3	Ernie Els	-5	67
T3	Lasse Jensen	-5	67
T3	Richard Sterne	-5	67
T6	Jordi Garcia Pinto	-4	68
T6	David Drysdale	-4	68
T6	Charl Schwartzel	-4	68
T6	Colin Nel	-4	68
T10	Niclas Fasth	-3	69
T10	Edoardo Molinari	-3	69
T10	Raphael Jacquelin	-3	69
T10	Tom Murray	-3	69
T10	Erik Van Rooyen	-3	69

Much of the focus was on Els as a five-time winner of the event, and he certainly didn't disappoint. The four-time major champion fired a five-under 67, which was good for the clubhouse lead at the conclusion of his round, according to SuperSport Blitz:

He was ultimately surpassed by Kruger and Sullivan, though, which leaves him in a three-way tie for third with Lasse Jensen and fellow countryman Richard Sterne.

Although The Big Easy didn't end the opening round on top, he was still pleased with his play as well as the atmosphere at the South African Open Championship:

In fact, the only thing that put a damper on the celebratory mood in Ekurhuleni Thursday was a weather delay that set things back a bit, per Golf Channel:

Despite the inclement conditions, though, the quality of play didn't seem to be adversely impacted. 

Both Kruger and Sullivan were especially strong as they surged past Els. Kruger closed with four birdies on the back nine, while Sullivan had three birdies, as well as a spectacular eagle on the 15th hole.

As seen in this video courtesy of The European Tour, Sullivan was locked in late in the round, especially in terms of his short game on the par-five 15th:

Thursday was certainly a good day for South African golfers as six of them reside in the top 10, including Schwartzel. The former Masters champion is tied for sixth after shooting a four-under 68.

Although he has clearly been one of the best South African golfers for the past several years, a South African Open Championship title has eluded him.

Per SuperSport, eventually winning the tournament is an important goal for Schwartzel:

He has definitely put himself in position to do precisely that as he is lurking comfortably two shots behind the leaders. He has the benefit for crowd support as well, so this may represent his best chance to come out on top.

With 40 players under par entering the second round, it is fair to say that this event is wide open. It may not be stacked with elite players aside from a select few, but the field is talented and hungry to win.

Els and Schwartzel are clearly among the top names to watch in the coming days, and it will be interesting to see how lesser-known players like Kruger and Sullivan handle being in the lead.

Whatever the case, the 2015 South African Open Championship has all the makings of a spectacular and competitive tournament.

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