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Playing on an invite this week, the South African, once ranked inside the top 100 in the world, clinched a one-stroke victory over Victoria’s joint overnight leader Cam John on a whirlwind final day that saw the lead exchange hands numerous times on a cold, wet and blustery afternoon.<\/p>\n
Bekker (73-71-68-69) finished at 7-under-par and with an added love of Perth, where he is thinking of relocating his family.<\/p>\n
He is the first South African winner of the WA Open since the great Gary Player in 1956.<\/p>\n
A fixture at the top of the leaderboard all day after three early birdies, Bekker kept his nose in front of the chasing pack with a clutch bogey putt on the 14th, but the drama really kicked in on the penultimate hole.<\/p>\n
Despite pulling his tee shot on the treacherous par-three 17th, which played as one of the most difficult holes all week, a kick off the bank saw Bekker’s ball hop right and pull up just a few inches short of the hole.<\/p>\n
The tap-in birdie moved him to 7-under-par, but the 40-year-old almost contrived to throw away his advantage on the par-5 18th after coming up just short of the green with his approach.<\/p>\n
Bekker’s decision to putt rather than chip almost backfired spectacularly, as his effort broke savagely left and ended up on the lip of the deep, left greenside bunker.<\/p>\n
With no stance, he was forced to putt down a steep slope left-handed with the back of his flatstick and raced his birdie a good 10 feet past.<\/p>\n
Under immense pressure, his breaking par-saver found the middle of the cup to preserve his narrow advantage, eliciting a roar of relief from the normally taciturn South African.<\/p>\n
Playing in the group behind, John pulled to within a shot of the lead with a birdie on 16, but a drive into the trees on 18 severely limited his chances of a grandstand finish.<\/p>\n
A punch out was followed by a wedge to the back of the green and when John’s birdie putt refused to drop, the win was Bekker’s \u2013 along with a two-year exemption on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.<\/p>\n
After struggling with his game for the past few weeks, Bekker said his win was around such a challenging layout was as unexpected as it was welcome.<\/p>\n
“This come so far out of left field,” he said. “I’ve missed the last six or seven cuts in a row, but I said to my wife, I feel like [my game’s] close and I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m playing well one week. This was the week, apparently.<\/p>\n
“This golf course is so unforgiving. You’ve got to play such conservative golf, even with wedges in hand from the middle of the fairway. It was a grind and I\u2019m glad I could stick it out.”<\/p>\n
Of his final-hole travails, Bekker was able to see the funny side with the trophy safely in his clutches.<\/p>\n
“I just hit (the putt) too soft. Somehow it didn’t go in the bunker, but I obviously didn’t have a stance and had to putt left-handed from there.<\/p>\n
“Let me tell you, there were some things that happened that I’ve never seen in my life. So yeah, it was interesting.”<\/p>\n
Headline act Marc Leishman (69) was a factor throughout the day and made an early charge from three shots back to take a share of the lead heading into the back nine at 6-under-par for the championship.<\/p>\n
However, some uncharacteristic slips on the par-four 11th cost him dearly as he thinned a bunker shot over the green and failed to get up and down.<\/p>\n