GOLF NEWS - South Africa’s Dylan Frittelli earned an R8.5-million pay-day with the best round of the day after a high quality, thrilling final-round battle pitched him against Olympic gold medallist Justin Rose in the Turkish Airlines Open on Sunday.
Frittelli ended his round with a fist pump as he holed out for birdie at the last for a seven-under-par 64, but the spoils went to South African-born Justin Rose just eight days after his World Golf Championship HSBC triumph.
The Englishman denied Frittelli and Nicolas Colsaerts from Belgium a stab at a playoff when he also knocked in a birdie putt at the par four closing hole for a six-under 65.
The 37-year-old Rose sealed victory on 18-under-par 266, leaving Frittelli and Colsaerts, who returned a 66, to share second on 267.
Over the course of four days in Turkey, Frittelli once again showed that he is a player of immense stature as he gave an excellent account of himself in one of the premium Rolex Series events on the European Tour's Race to Dubai.
Having followed a runner-up finish in the Volvo China Open in April with his maiden break-through in the Lyoness Open in Austria in June, the joint joint in Turkey propelled the South African from 39th to 18th in the Race to Dubai.
Remarkably, it was three chip shots that catapulted Frittelli into the thick of things in the final round.
Having not holed a chip-shot in more than a year, he chipped in for birdies at five, six and eight on the front nine in a run of five straight birdies to complete the par-34 outward loop in just 29 strokes.
"I also chipped in twice in the third round, so something definitely clicked in that department of my game this week," said the 27-year-old.
"I mean, who needs to putt when you can chip straight in! I'm proud of the fact that I played well under pressure all week and hit a lot of shots close."
Rose called Frittelli a ball-striker of the highest calibre after the pair played together in the third round and the South African put his talent show on the back nine on Sunday as he hit three superb approaches inside 10 feet.
Each time the birdie putts stayed out, but when he did hole one at the final hole to temporarily lead the field, the gallery roared their approval.
“Dylan definitely has a great head for golf,” Rose said. “Whenever he was in trouble on Saturday, he stayed dead-calm and he made some brilliant par saves. He is a real talent for the future.”
