Oliver Bekker climbed inside the top 25 on the DP World Tour rankings on Sunday as he closed the DS Automobiles Italian Open at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome with a one-under-par 70 to finish in share of ninth.
It was Bekker’s eighth top-10 finish on the DP World Tour this season as he made four birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey to finish on eight-under-par for the week. That put him six strokes out of the play-off which was won by Robert MacIntyre on the first extra hole from US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick. France’s Victor Perez was third, one stroke back on 13-under, and Rory McIlroy overcame a double-bogey start to his final round to reach 12-under in fourth. Bekker shared ninth with Spain’s Jorge Campillo.
Bekker made two birdies with no drops on the front nine, but he made bogey on the 10th. He regained that shot with birdie on 13, but a wayward tee shot on the 15th saw him only able to hack the ball one yard out of deep rough on the left, and then a second hack saw him advance the ball 99 yards to the middle of the fairway. Although he reached the green on the par-four in four, he two-putted for his double-bogey. He finished off the round with his fourth birdie on the 18th of the week.
Louis de Jager and Darren Fichardt finished in a share of 41st on level-par after closing rounds of one-over-par 72 each. Brandon Stone had a final round of two-under 69 for a share of 55th place on two-over, and Justin Walters finished in a share of 61st on four-over after a one-over 72.
