Schaper’s miracle shot earns him Alfred Dunhill Championship glory

Jayden Schaper. Getty

South Africa’s Jayden Schaper hit the shot of his career to beat Shaun Norris with an eagle in their play-off and win the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Royal Johannesburg on Sunday.

It was an incredible end to a day where Norris stunned the field with his 62 to set the clubhouse target at 16-under par and Schaper then matched him on that total with a run of three birdies – including a chip-in on 16 – in his final five holes for a 67.

Playing the par-five 18th in the play-off, Schaper hit his drive into the right fairway bunker. Norris, in the middle of the fairway, hit his second to the heart of the green. Schaper responded with a rescue club out of the bunker that finished on the back edge of the green and he holed that putt for eagle and the win.

“You come down the last in contention and wonder, could it be this week? When that putt dropped, it was that feeling that all those years of hard work have paid off and to finally know I’d done it was so special,” said Schaper.

This is his maiden DP World Tour victory and comes a week after he finished runner-up in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player. Perhaps even more significant is that early in his professional career in 2020 Schaper had the chance to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek and lost out to the experience of Christiaan Bezuidenhout that day. It was a devastating blow for the young professional and it made Sunday’s victory even sweeter.

There was every bit the sense of a far more experienced and ferocious competitor at Royal Johannesburg’s East Course on Sunday as he stared down Norris in the play-off. In fact, Schaper’s bunker shot was of such a high quality that it even drew applause from the other side of the fairway from Norris.

“I saw the lie in the bunker and didn’t even care about the yardage. I had a feeling. I looked at Keagan my caddie and he knew what I was thinking. That’s the shot of my career so far,” he said.

“It’s been an incredible week. The weather was so tough with the cold and rain. But to get off to this kind of start in the new season – I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Watching from outside the ropes was his father, Ryan. Holding back his own tears, he said: “It’s amazing. Everybody always asks me when this dream with Jayden started and it started as soon as he could walk, and it hasn’t stopped. It’s an incredible moment. The family has always stuck by Jayden through his whole career and we just trusted for the moment that it would pay off.”

Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra finished third on 15-under par with a closing 70.

Scores

198 - Jayden Schaper 67 64 67 (won in a play-off)

198 - Shaun Norris 67 69 62 KO

199 - Eugenio Chacarra 63 66 70

201 - Louis Oosthuizen 67 68 66

201 - Christiaan Burke 63 71 67, Oliver Bekker 66 67 68

202 - Martin Couvra 70 69 63

202 - John Parry 66 66 70

203 - Christiaan Bezuidenhout 67 69 67

203 - Aldrich Potgieter 67 69 67, Samuel Simpson 65 71 67, Michael Hollick 70 63 70, Branden Grace 65 67 71

204 - Herman Loubser 70 69 65

204 - Haydn Porteous 69 68 67, Hugo Townsend 70 70 64, Mikael Lindberg 67 69 68, Antoine Rozner 68 67 69, Dylan Frittelli 68 67 69, Thriston Lawrence 64 71 69, Joel Girrbach 69 66 69, Daniel van Tonder 65 69 70

205 - Brandon Stone 64 74 67

205 - James Morrison 70 68 67, Jeff Winther 72 67 66, Justin Walters 69 69 67, Jonathan Broomhead 69 68 68, Luke Brown 69 70 66, Jorge Campillo 67 73 65, Marcel Schneider 70 66 69, Karabo Mokoena 66 69 70

206 - Casey Jarvis 67 71 68

206 - Niklas Lemke 68 71 67, Ockie Strydom 70 67 69, Calum Hill 68 69 69, Dean Burmester 67 69 70, Brandon Robinson Thompson 65 71 70, Nathan Kimsey 69 72 65, JC Ritchie 67 66 73

207 - Jamie Rutherford 71 67 69

207 - Jacob Olesen 69 68 70, Daniel Young 69 71 67, Marcus Armitage 67 70 70, Pierre Viallaneix 68 68 71, Alejandro Del Rey 70 71 66

208 - Darius van Driel 67 72 69

208 - Angel Ayora 68 71 69, Nacho Elvira 71 68 69, Jaco Prinsloo 68 71 69, Ben Schmidt 66 74 68, Oliver Lindell 70 66 72, Yurav Premlall 73 67 68, Manuel Elvira 72 69 67, Jaco Ahlers 70 71 67, Oihan Guillamoundeguy 73 68 67

209 - Benjamin Follett-Smith 70 69 70

209 - David Ravetto 69 71 69, MJ Viljoen 67 73 69, Marcel Siem 67 73 69, Deon Germishuys 71 70 68, Daniel Cronje 69 72 68

210 - Zander Lombard 71 70 69

210 - Dan Bradbury 68 73 69

211 - Hennie du Plessis 69 70 72

211 - Rocco Repetto 69 71 71, Andrea Pavan 68 67 76, Luis Carrera 70 71 70

212 - Junghwan Lee 70 69 73

212 - Kieran Vincent 72 68 72, JJ Senekal 69 71 72, Ryggs Johnston 71 69 72, Ruan Korb 68 73 71, Stuart Krog 72 69 71, Altin van der Merwe 74 67 71

213 - Romain Langasque 67 71 75

213 - Pablo Larrazabal 67 74 72, Sebastian Garcia 70 71 72

215 - Aaron Cockerill 68 72 75

215 - Daniel Bennett 69 72 74