Tshwane Open 2015: Daily Leaderboard Analysis, Highlights and More

Local favourite George Coetzee won the 2015 Tshwane Open by one shot at his home course, the Pretoria Country Club in Waterkloof.

A relatively short par-70, the course provided a challenging four days for all those involved, with some key European Tour players looking to make their mark in South Africa.

Read on for daily recaps of how the action played out during an engrossing week of golf.

Day 4 Recap

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George Coetzee is the 2015 Tshwane Open champion after a five-under-par round of 65 on the final day at the Pretoria Country Club in Waterkloof

That score took the South African to 14-under for the tournament, one shot ahead of compatriot Jacques Blaauw, who hit a stunning nine-under-par round of 61 to thrust himself into contention.

The pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with Dean Burmester, Tjaart van der Waalt and Craig Lee all finishing a further four shots back on nine-under.

Here’s the final leaderboard and a look at how the action played out on the final day at the Pretoria Country Club in Waterkloof:

Position	Player	Overall	Round 4 Score
1	George Coetzee	-14	65
2	Jacques Blaauw	-13	61
T3	Dean Burmester	-9	67
T3	Tjaart van der Waalt	-9	67
T3	Craig Lee	-9	70
T6	Jaco Ahlers	-8	66
T6	Adrian Otaegui	-8	71
T8	Gregory Bourdy	-7	66
T8	Robert Rock	-7	68

For full video highlights, visit EuropeanTour.com by clicking here.

With six men tied on nine-under going into the final day of this tournament, there was always going to be a few thrills and spills around the course. But the main source of excitement didn’t initially come from one of the overnight leaders.

Blaauw had enjoyed a decent week up until the final day, but on four-under par and five shots back, there were few who considered the South African as a genuine contender for the title here. But as he rattled in the birdies throughout his immaculate round, suddenly there was another potential champion.

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As we can see here courtesy of the Sunshine Tour Twitter account, Blaauw’s round of 61—which included nine birdies and no bogeys—was a joint-course record, and it put him in the lead with many of the overnight leaders just midway through their round:

Blaauw’s efforts laid down the gauntlet to the men out on course, and it was a responsibility that not many really relished shouldering. But Coetzee is an experienced player familiar with the layout in Pretoria, and after three successive birdies around the turn at holes 8, 9 and 10, he looked best placed to reel in his compatriot.

He was level with Blaauw for much of the back nine, and with two holes to play, he was left to rue a few chances to take the lead slipping by. But Coetzee produced two moments of enormous quality to move to the front of the pack at 17, per The European Tour:

That crucial birdie meant that all Coetzee had to do on the final hole was make par, and he duly obliged, much to his and the crowd's obvious delight. The Pretoria venue is the South African’s home club, so naturally he was a pretty popular winner with the punters in attendance.

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As noted by Barry Havenga of Golf Digest, it’s a course that Coetzee will be very well acquainted with given how long he's been a member for:

This was only the South African’s second win on the European Tour, and given his obvious emotional links with the venue, you suspect this is a victory that will be tough to top.

Coetzee’s superb play around the turn is what helped him surge away from the other overnight leaders, and he was as composed as anyone out on course as Blaauw relentlessly scorched up the leaderboard.

The challenge now for this undeniably talented player is to showcase the requisite consistency needed to win these kinds of events much more regularly. After all, he certainly resembled a thoroughbred champion with his assured play on the final day here.

Day 3 Recap

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Six men are tied at nine-under par at the top of the leaderboard at the Tshwane Open after the third round of action in Waterkloof.

Friday night's leader Adrian Otaegui is among them, along with Scotland's Craig Lee, Englishman David Horsey and home trio George Coetzee, Wallie Coetsee and Trevor Fisher Jr.

Another pair of South Africans, Ockie Strydom and Erik van Rooyen, sit one shot further back at eight under, while there are three players at seven under.

Here is what the leaderboard looks like after Day 3:

Position	Player	Overall	Round 3 Score
T1	David Horsey	-9	69
T1	Craig Lee	-9	66
T1	Wallie Coetsee	-9	68
T1	George Coetzee	-9	68
T1	Trevor Fisher Jr.	-9	69
T1	Adrian Otaegui	-9	72
T7	Ockie Strydom	-8	72
T7	Erik Van Rooyen	-8	67
T9	Morten Orum Madsen	-7	68
T9	Raphael Jacquelin	-7	68

For full video highlights, visit EuropeanTour.com by clicking here. 

Otaegui stuttered on Saturday but still sits atop the leaderboard, albeit with plenty of company. The Spaniard's 72 came courtesy of five bogeys and three birdies.

South African Coetzee carded a two-under 68 with three birdies and just the one bogey, and he will be a major threat in Sunday's action.

His compatriot Coetsee also shot a 68 on Saturday, while Fisher Jr. roared back from bogeying four of his first seven holes to birdie five of the last 11.

Lee went lowest of the top men on Saturday, carding a round of 66 with six birdies and two bogeys to put himself in the mix with a chance come Sunday evening.

Joint leader after the first round, Morten Orum Madsen recovered well from a round of 72 on Friday to shoot 68 on Saturday.

He opened and closed his round with frustrating bogeys, but five birdies in the round—including a two at the 16th, per the European Tour—saw him to seven under for the tournament, and he will fancy his chances come the final round's action:

Italy's Edoardo Molinari had a topsy-turvy day, but he came back from dropping four shots in the first four holes—including a double-bogey six at the fourth—to card a 71. He is now seven-under overall.

Defending champion Ross Fisher is surely out of contention for successive triumphs; the Englishman's 74 on Saturday left him at level par for the tournament.

Meanwhile, Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke shot a two-under 68 to leave him four-under. His only blot was a double-bogey six on the second.

It is impossible to pick a winner after the third day of action at the Pretoria Country Club, but the stage is set for a scintillating Sunday of action with all to play for.

The South African contingent will be well-supported as they bid for glory, but there is enormous quality in the chasing ranks, and a tight finish is effectively guaranteed. 

Day 2 Recap

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Adrian Otaegui posted a blistering eight-under 62 in the second round of the Tshwane Open in South Africa to give himself a two-stroke lead at 11-under par heading into the weekend.

The 22-year-old Spanish rising star posted nine birdies over the first 16 holes. For the second straight day his only blemish came on the 18th with a bogey. The effort was enough to vault him 18 spots up the leaderboard into first with two rounds to play.

Here's a look at the main contenders after Round 2:

Position	Player	Score
1	Adrian Otaegui	-11
2	Merrick Bremner	-9
T-3	David Horsey	-8
T-3	Keith Horne	-8
T-3	Edoardo Molinari	-8
T-3	Trevor Fisher Jr.	-8
T-7	Dean Burmester	-7
T-7	George Coetzee	-7
T-7	Wallie Coetsee	-7
T-10	Ricardo Santos	-6
T-10	Brett Rumford	-6
T-10	Toby Tree	-6

Otaegui had five straight birdies at one point during the round. He was locked in from the start and his putts were dropping. His play continues to trend in the right direction after a trio of top-25 finishes earlier in the season.

The European Tour passed along some of his remarks after Friday's action:

Merrick Bremner finds himself in solo second. The high-risk, high-reward South African has dropped 14 birdies in two days, but has also sprinkled in some bogeys to prevent him from holding the lead. Watch out if he can find a groove over the next two days. He could go super low.

Edoardo Molinari is also firmly in the mix after back-to-back 66s. He's been fighting it a bit so far in 2015 without a single finish inside the top 30. His form has been much better this week, so it will be interesting to see if he can carry that over into the weekend.

Aside from Otaegui, the next best round on the course came from Toby Tree. The Englishman had an eagle, five birdies and no dropped shots en route to a seven-under 63. That was enough to move him inside the top 10.

One player who didn't enjoy nearly as much success was Morten Orum Madsen. He held a share of the lead after the opening round but couldn't get it going on Friday. Two double bogeys within the first four holes doomed him.

He's now at 5-under through two days. The European Tour highlighted his up-and-down play over his past six rounds:

All told, the tournament is wide open heading into the weekend. Otaegui is obviously the player to beat after going low in the second round. His lack of experience leading events simply adds to the uncertainty atop the leaderboard, though.

Perhaps the situation will become more clear after Saturday's round. More likely, however, it won't be until deep into the final round before somebody is able to pull away from the crowded field. It should make for an entertaining finish to the Tshwane Open.

Day 1 Recap

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Denmark's Morten Orum Madsen and England's David Horsey lead the way after the first round of action at the Tshwane Open on Thursday, the pair both carding impressive seven-under rounds of 63. 

A South African is just one shot further back in a tie for third, Wallie Coetsee having posted 64, with a number of top players sitting set to pounce in a strong chasing pack.

Here is how the leaderboard looks after Day 1:

Position	Player	Overall	Round 1 Score
T1	Morten Orum Madsen	-7	63
T1	David Horsey	-7	63
T3	Wallie Coetsee	-6	64
T3	Brett Rumford	-6	65
T5	Raphael Jacquelin	-5	65
T5	Dean Burmester	-5	65
T5	Keith Horne	-5	65
T5	Merrick Bremner	-5	65
T9	Chris Swanepoel	-4	66
T9	Oliver Bekker	-4	66

For full video highlights, visit Europeantour.com by clicking here.  

Madsen, fresh from his third-place finish at last week's Africa Open, opened up with a birdie on the 10th—his first hole—picking up another shot on the 16th.

His good-looking round became a stunner when he eagled his last two holes, firing an ace at the eighth ahead of a three at the par-five ninth, per the European Tour:

The Dane was unsurprisingly delighted with his day's work and will be looking to kick on after a terrific first round play, per the European Tour:

"

The last couple of weeks I’ve been hitting some shots really close and I actually said to my caddy last week that a hole in one is on the cards pretty soon. When you're standing on the next tee your pretty confident and I hit a really nice drive and a great three iron second shot. It’s something you don’t expect but you dream about. I’ve found something in my game that’s working and I’ve been pretty consistent – the back nine I played really well and made a few which was good.  

"

Horsey's was a faultless 18 holes, his card clear of any bogeys, but including seven valuable birdies—four of them in the last seven holes, per the Sunshine Tour:

Coetsee's impressive round of 64 included just a single bogey—on the fourth—and an eagle of his own on the 12th when he pitched in for a three. 

Coetsee's compatriot Keith Horne sits in the group at five-under par after frustratingly bogeying two of the last three holes, although his birdie on 17 tempered his late blemishes well.

Defending champion Ross Fisher endured a frustrating day, picking up his first shots at the umpteenth opportunity as he pitched in for an eagle at the 12th, only to hand one back at the 16th as he finished with a round of one-under par with a 69. He's tied for 37th heading into Friday's second round. 

George Coetzee's was an inconsistent round, but he finished with a three-under 67. He had six birdies that were mostly offset by three bogeys. The South African star is lurking at four shots back, but he's got to get more consistent quickly to compete for a victory. 

With plenty of shots available on the course and much to challenge the players, it is set to be a very competitive week in Pretoria, and Horsey and Madsen will have to do well to stay in touch until Sunday.