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Otto eases to victory

George - His approach shot to the 18th on the Montagu course at Fancourt on Sunday typified the golf Hennie Otto played on his way to a four-stroke victory in the R3.2-million Dimension Data Pro-Am.

He deposited a wedge just a foot from the flag for a tap-in birdie to complete a dominating performance which gave him a comfortable margin over second-placed James Kingston.

"I was hitting those kinds of shots well all week," he said, "and my putting also started coming right after I went back to my old putter."

For Otto, it was a 10th title on the Sunshine Tour, and his first since his 28-under-par tour-de-force at last February's Vodacom Championship.

"It was a bit of a quiet patch after that," he said, "but I have been working hard all the time and I'm starting to reap the fruit of that."

Overnight leader George Coetzee stayed right in contention with battling golf through 12 holes - he made one bogey and a birdie - until a bogey on 13 took the fight out of his game, and the deflation was compounded with another bogey on 16.

"George made a few mistakes," said Otto, "and I took advantage of that, and that helped as well - it was a game of patience."

Coetzee eventually finished alone in third place after his 74, with Kingston matching Otto's four-under 68 to take his second runner-up finish in two weeks after his second-place in Dubai last week on the European Tour.

Otto had a bogey on each nine, but two birdies on his way out and four more on his way home more than made up for those slip-ups.

And, for Otto, more than the R475,500 first prize, the exemption into the $8.5-million World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational in August is something to be prized.

"It means a lot for players like me who are on the European Tour too," said Otto.

"Because it counts for the Race to Dubai, it's quite important. I have been there four or five times before, and I'm looking forward to going over again this year. I hope I can have a good one this year."

The victory gave him a substantial leg-up on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, lifting him into sixth place just behind Kingston.

The final round scores (RSA unless specified):

273 - Hennie Otto 68 71 66 68

277 - James Kingston 67 72 70 68

278 - George Coetzee 70 65 69 74

280 - Branden Grace 73 67 69 71, Warren Abery 69 71 70 70

282 - Jaco Van Zyl 71 69 72 70

283 - TC Charamba (ZIM) 75 75 67 66, Charl Coetzee 74 72 67 70, Jean Hugo 67 76 69 71, Chris Swanepoel 73 70 68 72, Darren Fichardt 74 66 72 71, Tyrone Mordt 71 70 68 74

284 - Adilson da Silva (BRA) 72 71 72 69, Adam Hadwin (CAN) 72 70 72 70, Andrew Georgiou 77 68 69 70, Tjaart van der Walt 72 67 74 71, Josh Cunliffe 73 72 67 72, Thomas Aiken 69 76 66 73

285 - Dawie Van der Walt 77 73 69 66, Brandon Pieters 69 71 75 70

286 - Christiaan Basson 74 73 69 70, Dean O'Riley 73 72 70 71, Garth Mulroy 69 74 73 70, Louis de Jager 76 68 70 72

287 - Omar Sandys 71 72 73 71, Alan McLean (SCO) 74 75 69 69, Allan Versfeld 79 70 68 70, Oliver Bekker 75 75 70 67, Blanche Lamprecht 78 73 69 67

288 - Morne Buys 74 72 70 72, Vaughn Groenewald 73 66 77 72, Wallie Coetsee 74 75 72 67

289 - Trevor Fisher Jnr 77 71 67 74, Bruce McDonald (ZIM) 75 70 71 73, Tyrone Ferreira 74 73 72 70

290 - Martin Maritz 75 71 71 73, Matthew Carvell 77 69 70 74, Theunis Spangenberg 73 75 73 69

291 - Ockie Strydom 80 70 69 72, Neil Cheetham (ENG) 70 72 77 72, Deane Pappas 76 71 74 70, Ryan Strauss 80 67 74 70, Daniel Greene 72 76 74 69, Jacques Blaauw 76 75 72 68

292 - Garry Hill 71 75 70 76, Dean Burmester 73 73 72 74, Alex Haindl 75 71 75 71

293 - Andrew Curlewis 80 70 69 74, Michiel Bothma 78 67 74 74, Mark Murless 84 69 68 72, Lyle Rowe 73 71 79 70

294 - Desvonde Botes 72 72 75 75, Johan du Buisson 74 71 76 73, Jaco Ahlers 73 75 73 73, Jake Redman 72 69 81 72, Justin Walters 75 70 77 72, Colin Nel 79 67 77 71

295 - Ulrich van den Berg 73 76 69 77, Justin Harding 79 72 72 72

296 - Ben Mannix (ENG) 73 79 69 75, Keenan Davidse 70 74 77 75

297 - Callie Swart 73 77 70 77, Derik Ferreira 77 69 74 77, Merrick Bremner 70 73 80 74

298 - PH McIntyre 74 79 70 75, Jeremy Kavanagh (ENG) 75 79 68 76

299 - Anthony Michael 80 69 74 76, Ryan Tipping 72 79 72 76

300 - Bryce Easton 76 72 74 78

302 - Lindani Ndwandwe 81 73 67 81

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