DP World Tour: Matthew Baldwin of England won his first tournament while playing in his 200th DP World Tour contest by winning the SDC Championship in South Africa by a seven-shot margin.
The 37-year-old started the day tied atop the leaderboard but finished his interrupted third round early on Sunday morning with three birdies to grab a four-shot lead into the final 18 holes.
And he continued to push forward in the fourth round, increasing his advantage to six strokes at the halfway mark thanks to three birdies on the front nine. He then overcame his first bogey of the day at the 11th hole by making gains on the 13th and 14th holes to complete the week at 18 under par.
Adri Arnaus of Spain finished alone in second place on 11 under after shooting a final-round 67 that included seven birdies and just two bogeys. Ewen Ferguson of Scotland tied for third place with five other players on 10 under.
Baldwin, who completed the Challenge Tour in 2011, has gone through many ups and downs on his way to the winner’s circle. Prior to being forced to end his 2015 season in May due to sickness, he had a fantastic first three seasons on the DP World Tour. That summer, he underwent two procedures.
He lost his card in 2016, but after passing qualifying school, he returned for the 2018 season. He would have returned for the 2021 Challenge Tour, but he was unable to do so since the categories had been frozen because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He is now in his seventh full season on the DP World Tour and can officially claim to be a champion after placing 19th in the Road to Mallorca last season.
At the award ceremony, Baldwin spoke about his path leading up to this point “I’m not entirely certain of what just transpired. It’s been a difficult few years, so getting the victory certainly means everything.
“That means the world to me, but I’m having trouble processing it at the moment.
“The golf course has been windy all week; that’s just how it is. Fortunately, I’ve spent much of my life playing golf in Southport at Hesketh and Royal Birkdale, so I’m very adept at handling the wind.”
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