Justin Harding of South Africa earned R728 693 at the Saudi International on the Asian Tour on Sunday. Picture EPA/Ali Haider
Johannesburg - South Africa’s Justin Harding finished 24th at the Saudi International on the Asian Tour on Sunday, but received a hefty R728 693 for his efforts.
The event was part of the new Saudi Golf League (SGL) which is aiming to give the tournaments a massive boost in prizemoney. American Harold Varner III won the tournament on 13-under, and pocketed R15.5m. Harding finished the week in Saudi Arabia on two-under and moved up one place in the world rankings to 101st.
SA’s Jaco Ahlers and Jovan Rebula each earned R462 696 for 28th place on level par at the Saudi International. Ahlers jumped 23 positions to 277th in the world with his result, while the newly-turned professional Rebula rocketed up 132 spots to 735th.
In contrast, SA’s Oliver Bekker and Shaun Norris finished ninth and pocketed over R100 000 less than Harding in the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) event at the Ras al Khaimah Championship, at Al Hamra GC, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday.
Bekker and Norris each earned R627 495 for their week’s work which saw them end on 15-under. Dane Nicolai Hojgaard won on 24-under, by four strokes, and earned R5.2m - which was over R10m less than Varner’s cheque at the Saudi International.
Bekker as a result rose five spots to 152nd in the world, while Norris remained 73rd.
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Over at the US PGA Tour’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Christian Bezuidenhout was the top SA player in a tie for 14th. In the big-money event on the premier golf tour in the world, Bezuidenhout’s finish meant he pocketed R2.5m. Bezuidenhout also moved up two places to 53rd in the world with his finish.
The only other South African to make the cut at Pebble Beach, Dylan Frittelli finished 24th on nine-under and received a cool R1.1m. Frittelli rose three positions to 123rd in the world for his week’s work.
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