Norris claims his place in Alfred Dunhill Championship history

South Africa’s Shaun Norris was overcome with emotion after claiming a thrilling one-stroke victory in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek on Sunday.

Norris had earlier made a strong charge through the field, sparked by an eagle on the second hole, and closed with a 67 to lead in the clubhouse on 13 under par and tied with several players.

An emotional Shaun Norris lifts the trophy following his 2024 Alfred Dunhill Championship victory 🏆 ⛳️ 🤩#golf #leopardcreek #sunshinetour #dpworldtour pic.twitter.com/MHaH8iDPXc

— Alfred Dunhill Links Championship (@dunhilllinks) December 15, 2024

But it ended up being only South Africa’s Ryan van Velzen who had a realistic chance of catching him as he teed off the 18th tied for the lead. As Norris warmed up on the driving range for a possible playoff, Van Velzen hit his approach into the water surrounding the treacherous 18th green and went on to make bogey.

“Unbelievable. Words can’t describe the feelings going through me at the moment. I’m over the moon,” said Norris after claiming his second DP World Tour title.

“I only knew I’d shot 67 after I made the last putt. I was so stuck in my head focusing on every shot and doing what I needed to do. At the end of the day it worked out nicely.”

Van Velzen closed with a 72 to share second place with England’s John Parry (69) and Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult (74) on 12 under par.

Before teeing off on Sunday, Norris had told his brother and caddie Kyle that if they could be under par through the first five holes, they may stand a chance. And it was an eagle on the par-five second that gave him that chance.

“That eagle was key. It’s massive to get off to a good start and put yourself in a nice rhythm,” he said. A composed back nine featuring three birdies further strengthened his chances as he was the only player among the top four on the leaderboard who didn’t make a bogey on the back nine.

The moment a very emotional Shaun Norris found out he had claimed his second Tour title 🥹#DunhillChamps pic.twitter.com/4LNQ3fzte1

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 15, 2024

Norris was also overjoyed to win at a Leopard Creek course that holds a special place in every South African golfer’s heart.

“This title means everything to me. To win here at Leopard Creek, which is always in spectacular condition and where we’ve had such good champions such as Ernie Els, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen – to now put my name on this trophy is a blessing. This changes a few things for me. I’ve got so much to look forward to over the next few years. But now it’s time for a holiday.”

SCORES

275 - Shaun Norris 67 70 71 67

276 - John Parry 67 71 69 69, Ryan Van Velzen 70 69 65 72, Marcus Kinhult 65 68 69 74

277 - Angel Ayora 71 70 65 71, Darius van Driel 67 71 67 72

278 - Keenan Davidse 69 68 73 68, Andy Sullivan 64 73 71 70, Dale Whitnell 69 67 71 71, Martin Couvra 71 66 70 71

279 - Nathan Kimsey 67 72 72 68, Simon Forsstrom 73 65 71 70, Casey Jarvis 65 72 70 72, Matthew Southgate 70 67 69 73

280 - Ugo Coussaud 69 72 71 68, Marcel Schneider 71 72 69 68, Charl Schwartzel 71 66 74 69, Romain Langasque 68 70 68 74

281 - Nacho Elvira 68 71 76 66, Julien Guerrier 68 75 72 66, Alex Fitzpatrick 65 72 72 72, Yurav Premlall 73 66 70 72

282 - Wenyi Ding 68 69 70 75

283 - Andrea Pavan 67 69 76 71, Brandon Stone 67 72 73 71, Tom McKibbin 69 73 69 72, Joost Luiten 71 67 68 77

284 - Adrian Otaegui 71 67 78 68, Nikhil Rama 68 71 77 68, Frederic Lacroix 70 67 76 71, Herman Loubser 74 66 73 71, Manuel Elvira 72 69 72 71, Pieter Moolman 70 72 71 71, Hamish Brown 75 66 67 76, Dean Burmester 69 67 70 78

285 - Benjamin Hebert 73 69 74 69, Richard Mansell 72 71 71 71, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 75 65 73 72, Ryggs Johnston 68 73 72 72, Joel Moscatel 72 66 74 73, Oliver Lindell 71 69 70 75

286 - Sean Crocker 72 71 73 70, Scott Jamieson 71 71 72 72, Aldrich Potgieter 72 70 72 72, Erik van Rooyen 72 67 73 74, Laurie Canter 71 70 70 75

287 - Kristoffer Reitan 68 74 77 68, Dylan Frittelli 72 68 76 71, Jorge Campillo 71 72 71 73, Gavin Green 71 72 70 74, Jens Dantorp 70 69 73 75, Benjamin Follett-Smith 71 69 70 77

288 - Rupert Kaminski 71 72 73 72, Jacques Blaauw 73 70 71 74

289 - Ockie Strydom 71 70 78 70, Jack Senior 71 71 74 73, Kieron van Wyk 70 73 73 73, Matthew Baldwin 70 73 73 73

291 - Matti Schmid 68 73 75 75, Lucas Bjerregaard 72 71 68 80

293 - Bjorn Akesson 74 69 73 77

294 - Kyle McClatchie 72 70 78 74

296 - Louis Albertse 73 68 72 83

297 - Matthew Spacey 73 70 79 75, Pierre Pineau 74 69 76 78, Alexander Levy 74 68 72 83

Missed the cut:-

144 - Dan Bradbury 70 74, JC Ritchie 71 73, Aaron Cockerill 71 73, Heinrich Bruiners 70 74, Francesco Laporta 73 71, Jaco Ahlers 75 69, Ulrich van den Berg 70 74, Louis Oosthuizen 71 73, Darren Fichardt 72 72

145 - Malcolm Mitchell 73 72, Sam Bairstow 74 71, Brandon Gildenhuys 72 73, Robson Chinhoi 71 74, Daniel Bennett 74 71, Jeong Weon Ko 74 71, Thomas Aiken 74 71, Oliver Bekker 71 74, Jaco Van Zyl 72 73, Ruan Conradie 72 73

146 - MJ Viljoen 73 73, Connor Syme 72 74, Jean Hugo 72 74, Conor Purcell 75 71, Keelan van Wyk 74 72, Jaco Prinsloo 74 72, Jonathan Broomhead 71 75, Wilco Nienaber 70 76, Bernd Wiesberger 76 70, Jovan Rebula 73 73, Richard Sterne 71 75

147 - Michael Hollick 74 73, Thriston Lawrence 75 72, Jordan Gumberg 76 71, Altin van der Merwe 71 76, Jordan Burnand 75 72, Joe Dean 71 76, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen 72 75, CJ du Plessis 73 74, Christiaan Maas 73 74, Justin Walters 72 75

148 - David Ravetto 74 74, Hennie Otto 74 74, Dylan Mostert 74 74, George Coetzee 72 76, Louis de Jager 73 75, Makhetha Mazibuko 72 76, Martin Rohwer 75 73, Rhys Enoch 74 74, Gregor Graham 73 75, Lyle Rowe 73 75, Albert Venter 74 74, Ruan Korb 76 72

149 - Brandon Robinson Thompson 77 72, Kyle Barker 81 68, Keith Horne 75 74, Deon Germishuys 72 77, Joel Girrbach 76 73, Neil Schietekat 73 76, JJ Senekal 73 76, Nicolas Colsaerts 79 70, Luke Jerling 74 75

150 - Dylan Naidoo 76 74, Kyle De Beer 74 76, Joakim Lagergren 74 76, Eddie Pepperell 81 69, Jacquin Hess 77 73

151 - Pablo Larrazabal 73 78, Wynand Dingle 75 76, Mikael Lindberg 74 77

152 - Trevor Fisher Jnr 81 71, Jayden Schaper 74 78, Sentanio Minnie 76 76, Gerard du Plooy 75 77

153 - Gerhard Pepler 80 73, Jacques P de Villiers 75 78, Robin Williams 76 77, Peter Karmis 76 77, Jordan Duminy 81 72

154 - Daniel van Tonder 71 83

155 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi 80 75, Stefan Wears-Taylor 69 86

156 - Ross Fisher 81 75, Combrinck Smit 75 81

157 - Astin Arthur 78 79, Gregory Mckay 82 75

161 - Steven Le Roux 75 86

163 - Christopher Long 82 81

RTD - Calum Hill RTD RTD RTD, Alvaro Quiros 74 RTD RTD, Franklin Manchest 77 RTD RTD