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Schwartzel tops in forgettable Open for SA

Cape Town - Charl Schwartzel was the leading finisher in an otherwise forgettable tournament for the nine South Africans at the 2016 Open Championship at Royal Troon GC.

The history books will show that the 145th Open Championship concluded in a final round two-man duel between Sweden's Henrik Stenson and American Phil Mickelson.

Stenson would go on to win, rewriting the record books with the lowest ever 72-hole Open total of 20-under par, 264.

Mickelson posted a bogey-free final round of 65 to finish three shots adrift.

The next best?

American J.B. Holmes who was a further 11 shots behind.

Schwartzel signed for a final round of 73, which was good enough for a tie for 18th and €80 524 (R1.28m).

Haydn Porteous, making his debut in the oldest Major, was next best among the SA contingent, ending tied for 30th, and pocketed €45 316 (R720 000) for his efforts.

Richard Sterne, who opened with a 68, eventually ended T46 with €22 202 (R350 000) in earnings.

Zander Lombard, also making his first Open Championship appearance, finished T66 and consoled himself with €17 816 (R280 000).

Branden Grace, South Africa's highest ranked player at No 12, was the fifth and final SA golfer to make the cut. He finished in a tie for 72nd and banked €17 004 (R269 000) for his four days work. 

George Coetzee, Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen and Brandon Stone all missed the cut.

Stenson banked a cool €1 363 834 (R21.5 million) for his victory.

Collated final round scores from the British Open at Royal Troon on Sunday (Gbr & Irl unless stated; par 71):

264 - Henrik Stenson (SWE) 68 65 68 63

267 - Phil Mickelson (USA) 63 69 70 65

278 - J.B. Holmes (USA) 70 70 69 69

279 - Steve Stricker (USA) 67 75 68 69

280 - Rory McIlroy 69 71 73 67, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 68 70 73 69, Tyrrell Hatton 70 71 71 68

281 - Andrew Johnston 69 69 70 73

282 - Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) 67 68 75 72, Dustin Johnson (USA) 71 69 72 70, Bill Haas (USA) 68 70 69 75

283 - Emiliano Grillo (ARG) 69 72 72 70, Zach Johnson (USA) 67 70 75 71, Andrew Sullivan 67 76 71 69, Gary Woodland (USA) 69 73 71 70, Matthew Southgate 71 71 72 69, Patrick Reed (USA) 66 74 71 72

284 - Tony Finau (USA) 67 71 72 74, Keegan Bradley (USA) 67 68 76 73, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 72 66 73 73, Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 71 72 70 71

285 - Jason Day (AUS) 73 70 71 71, Jason Dufner (USA) 71 71 74 69, David Howell 74 70 71 70, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 71 74 69 71, Kevin Na (USA) 70 69 73 73, Justin Rose 68 77 70 70, Brandt Snedeker (USA) 73 73 68 71, Lee Westwood 71 73 73 68

286 - Haydn Porteous (RSA) 70 76 68 72, Ryan Palmer (USA) 72 73 71 70, Darren Clarke 71 72 73 70, Russell Knox 72 70 75 69, Thomas Pieters (BEL) 68 76 70 72, Jordan Spieth (USA) 71 75 72 68

287 - Francesco Molinari (ITA) 69 71 73 74, Martin Kaymer (GER) 66 73 74 74, Padraig Harrington 70 72 73 72

288 - Matt Jones (AUS) 69 73 75 71, Bubba Watson (USA) 70 76 72 70, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP) 68 71 75 74, Webb Simpson (USA) 70 72 71 75

289 - Adam Scott (AUS) 69 73 76 71, Luke Donald 73 72 72 72, Jim Herman (USA) 70 70 72 77

290 - Alex Noren (SWE) 70 72 73 75, Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL) 72 73 70 75, Matt Kuchar (USA) 71 68 75 76, Rickie Fowler (USA) 69 72 76 73, Ryan Moore (USA) 70 73 74 73, Richard Sterne (RSA) 68 74 76 72, Harris English (USA) 73 73 73 71

291 - Justin Thomas (USA) 67 77 74 73, K.T. Kim (KOR) 70 71 77 73, Marc Leishman (AUS) 74 69 75 73, Danny Willett 71 75 74 71, Kevin Chappell (USA) 71 75 73 72

292 - Ryan Evans 71 75 74 72

293 - Jim Furyk (USA) 74 72 72 75, Byeong-Hun An (KOR) 70 70 76 77, Jon Rahm (ESP) 74 71 73 75, Daniel Summerhays (USA) 71 73 77 72

294 - Graeme McDowell 75 71 72 76, Mark O'Meara (USA) 71 72 78 73, Paul Lawrie 72 74 74 74

295 - Harold Varner III (USA) 71 72 75 77, Zander Lombard (RSA) 69 76 74 76

296 - Marco Dawson (USA) 72 73 77 74, Yuta Ikeda (JPN) 68 74 78 76, James Hahn (USA) 74 72 74 76, Patton Kizzire (USA) 76 70 75 75, Anirban Lahiri (IND) 69 72 76 79

297 - Scott Hend (AUS) 71 73 77 76, Jamie Donaldson 69 73 76 79, Branden Grace (RSA) 70 74 76 77

298 - Kevin Kisner (USA) 70 72 80 76

299 - Charley Hoffman (USA) 71 73 78 77

301 - Colin Montgomerie 71 75 79 76

302 - Kodai Ichihara (JPN) 69 77 78 78, Soomin Lee (KOR) 68 77 75 82

305 - Greg Chalmers (AUS) 72 71 77 85

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