Swede Alex Noren continued his golden run on the European Tour when he won the Nedbank Golf Challenge (NGC) here on Sunday.
It was his fourth title of the year.
Noren shot a final round 63 for a tournament score of 14-under to run away with the title which seemed out of reach when South Korea's overnight leader Jeunghun Wang went two under for the day on the fourth hole.
Noren‚ however‚ fired eight birdies and an eagle to snatch the $1.16m (R16‚72m) first prize and move inside the top 10 (9th) in the world rankings.
He has now captured the Scottish Open‚ the European Masters‚ British Masters and the NGC in the space of 11 events which is remarkable when you consider it took him 214 tournaments to win his first four.
Wang's round unravelled on the back nine with drop shots on 13‚ 15‚ 16 and 18 but he held on to second on eight under.
South Africa's Brendan Grace‚ England's Andy Sullivan‚ France's Victor Dubuisson‚ Portugal's Ricardo Gouveia and Spain's Alejandro Canizares finished seven under.
There was a glimmer of hope for Noren's nearest rivals when he found the notorious love grass on the 14th which is wickedly located inside the bunker guarding the front of the green. Noren however‚ masterfully extricated his ball hitting across the green but had to settle for bogey. It was the only blemish on his card.
His 63 matches that of Ernie Els (1999) and Henrik Stenson (2008) which were recorded under the stringent application of the rules. Lee Westwood went around this lay-out in 62 in 2011 but competitors were allowed to place the ball that day.
Noren played himself into contention for the Race to Dubai but Henrik Stenson still leads those standings with Danny Willett (2nd) and Rory McIlroy (fourth) capable of lifting the crown. - TMG Digital
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