George Coetzee overcame Thorbjørn Olesen at the second extra hole to continue his sensational form with victory in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
The South African, who lived up to his billing as the highest-ranked player in the field, birdied the 18th hole at Heritage Golf Club three times in succession – once in regulation and then twice in the play-off after the pair finished tied on 13 under par.
The last of those was enough for victory as Olesen, who had earlier overcome a four-shot deficit on the front nine with a round of 68, could only manage a par after missing the fairway and being forced to lay up.
The 28 year old Coetzee started the day one ahead of compatriot Thomas Aiken and Dane Olesen, but pulled clear with a sensational start as he birdied the second and third from close range after some wonderful iron play.
Already a winner at his home Pretoria GC course this season in the Tshwane Open and third in the Trophee Hassan II since, Coetzee found himself three clear and maintained that advantage when he birdied the fifth.
Olesen, who struggled with his driver on Saturday, had failed to get up-and-down at the first and was four behind at that stage but the 25 year old’s putter had been hot all week and with his long game firing once more he birdied the fifth from 12 feet, converted an eight footer at the sixth and made light work of the long seventh.
The same could not be said of Coetzee, who drove out of bounds on the par five seventh and bogeyed, and Olesen – returning from a three-month injury lay-off – made a ten foot putt at the ninth for a share of the lead on 13 under par.
Olesen bogeyed the tenth to drop one behind, and with birdies on the back nine hard to come by the gap remained unchanged until he birdied the 17th from six feet, with Coetzee missing an almost identical-length par putt on the hole behind moments later.
Needing to birdie the last to force a play-off, Coetzee almost went one better when his eagle effort from 30 feet finished inches short and he tapped in for a closing 69.
On the first trip back down the 18th Coetzee’s eagle attempt from 40 feet lipped out as both players birdied, but a third gain proved lucky as the World Number 63 secured a third European Tour victory.
“I actually felt more nervous during the day [than the play-off] and I’m happy to have pulled through it,” said Coetzee.
“Thorbjørn did unbelievably well to put pressure on me the whole day. I actually had to work to catch him in the end.
“I would have loved to have won it on the first play-off hole with an eagle and do it in style, but I’m obviously happy just to have won.
“All in all, I’m happy the job is done and it doesn’t matter how many holes it took - I was little upset and angry after my bogey on 16 and when I walked up the tee box, I saw that my name was no longer at the top and I couldn’t believe that Thorbjørn birdied 17.
“I told myself that I needed to give myself a good opportunity on 18 which I did.
“They’ve done a fantastic job with the tri-sanctioning of this event and bringing us to a fantastic place like Mauritius.
“It is great to get another victory on The European Tour and obviously it counts towards my Sunshine Tour ranking as well so I’m pleased with that too. I actually played on the Asian Tour in 2009 and I couldn’t make a cut – I was living on scraps – so it is nice to finally get an Asian Tour win as well.”
Olesen, who won his second European Tour title in Perth at the end of last year before undergoing surgery on his hand, was pleased with his week’s work despite missing out on the title.
“It’s disappointing, of course, when you are in a play-off and you don’t win,” he said.
“It’s difficult to play that 18th with a three wood, but I’ve been hitting my driver pretty badly so I had to.
“George hit some great shots there in the play-off to get two birdies, as it’s not an easy hole, so big congratulations to him and he’s played really well.
“I’m pretty pleased with the way I handled things today - I had a bad start again and fought my way back.
“It was a lot of fighting out there and George just played a little better.
“I didn’t expect this before the tournament so to be in a play-off is unbelievable when I haven’t been in a tournament for three months. I’m very pleased with that and I can take it with me. It’s a good start.”
Singaporean 47 year old Mardan Mamat birdied two of his last three holes for a 67 which left him third on 12 under par - fittingly, it meant that in the first event tri-sanctioned by the Sunshine, European and Asian Tours that all were represented in the top three - with Aiken fourth on 11 under following a round of 70.
