Fourth top-10 in five starts for Conor Purcell
Conor Purcell. Picture ©INPHO/Bryan Keane
Conor Purcell racked up his fourth top-10 finish in his last five starts when he tied for sixth behind South Africa's Oliver Bekker in the Challenge Tour's Dimension Data Pro-Am.
The former Walker Cup player (25) closed with a four-under 68 on the Montagu Course at Fancourt to finish eight strokes behind Bekker on 14-under-par. Scores
The Portmarnock golfer closed his Challenge Tour season last year by finishing tied for ninth in the British Challenge and went on to finish seventh in the DP World Tour's ISPS Handa Australian Open before Christmas.
Oliver Bekker. Picture: Sunshine Tour
He returned to action for the start of the Challenge Tour season last week, finishing tied for seventh in the Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open.
Following his latest top-10 finish, he remains sixth in the Road to Mallorca rankings with the top 20 at the end of the season earning promotion to the DP World Tour for 2024.
But he's also looking forward to two more weeks of co-sanctioned events with the Sunshine Tour in South Africa as he rounds off the month of February at the SDC Open in Limpopo and the Nelson Mandela Bay Championship in Port Elizabeth.
"Another solid week in the bag," said the former South of Ireland and Australian Amateur champion. "I didn't have my A-game by any stretch. I felt a little bit uncomfortable off the tee, but I putted quite well for the first few days, which was nice, and it's always nice to get double digits under par.
"Overall, there are a lot of positives going into next week, which is my third week out here in South Africa. So I'm looking forward to continuing the momentum and the decent start to the year."
Rosapenna's Ruaidhri McGee also had reason to be upbeat after he closed with a 70 to finish tied 23rd on 10-under-par.
As for Bekker, he claimed his second Dimension Data Pro-Am title in a dominant display as he won by four shots in front of his home crowd.
The South African took a five-shot lead into the final round and closed with a measured 68 on the Montagu course to win on 22 under par overall.
Sweden's Adam Blomme took second place on 18 under par with a final round of 66.
Bekker (38) first won this title in 2012 and is now only the third player since the tournament's inception in 1996 to win the Dimension Data Pro-Am twice, joining Nick Price (1997 and 1998) and Darren Fichardt (2004 and 2010).
"When you start with such a big lead, it's almost a relief that you didn't waste it," Bekker said. "It's amazing to be here in front of my family and friends.
"It's not often you play a golf tournament and you've got a hundred people following you and you know almost all of them. I'm just elated."
