He might not be all the way back, but a closing two-under-par 70 on Sunday for Brandon Stone gave him a share of fourth in the DP World Tour’s Ras Al Khaimah Championship at Al Hamra Golf Club in Ras al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.
Stone held it together in the final round, matching three bogeys in the final nine holes with three birdies to hold on to the gains he made with two birdies in the first six holes. In the end, his opening 64 kept him in the upper reaches of the leaderboard, and, at 17-under-par for the week, he was 10 strokes off the pace set by Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark.
Olesen produced a superb display of front-running to close with a five-under-par 67. At 27-under, he was six strokes clear of runner-up and countryman Rasmus Hojgaard, with Frederic Lacroix of France closing with a four-under 68 to reach 20-under-par for the tournament.
Stone regained his DP World Tour playing rights through a tough campaign on the Challenge Tour last year, after winning three times between 2016 and 2018 and then undergoing an alarming slump. The effort to get back to the kind of level he should have been playing at was exhausting enough that he missed the cut in the three South African tournament that kicked off the 2024 DP World Tour season.
He got things back together with a share of 40th in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, and clearly looked at home as he stayed in touch with most of the players in contention – with the obvious exception of Olesen – for most of the time.
Zander Lombard looked as if he might challenge for the title when he made an eagle and two birdies in this first five holes. But after that, he inexplicably left some crucial birdie efforts short. And then he hit his tee shot into the water on the right of the 12th, and ended up taking a triple-bogey there. He made two birdies and two bogeys on his way home after that, and was unable to undo the damage from the 12th. At 15-under for the tournament, he was in a share of 13th.
Louis de Jager finished well with a four-under-par 68 lifting him to a share of 20th on 13-under, and Jayden Schaper also had a 68 to move to a share of 23rd on 12-under. Jaco Prinsloo signed for a two-under 70 and shared 37th on 10-under-par. Hennie du Plessis was on none-under after a closing one-under 71 saw him slip to a share of 47th, while Dylan Frittelli had a two-under 70 to finish in a share of 70th on two-under for the week.
