It was an emotional victory for Thriston Lawrence as he took his fourth DP World Tour title on Sunday when he won the BMW International Open at Golfclub München Eichenried in Munich, Germany by one stroke at 13-under-par.

On a day on which he made just five pars, he attacked with intent throughout, and, in the end, his eight birdies and five birdies were enough to card a three-under 69 to beat out Joost Luiten of the Netherlands. Luiten led going into the final round, and inn the end, was able to make only one birdie in his closing two-over 74 as the South African Open champion hunted him down.

“This win means a lot to me,” said Lawrence after his win which came after he was unable to play his way into the top 10 since his win in the SA Open last December. “I’m very emotional to be honest. There was a lot of hard work. I went to America for six weeks and made just one cut. This game is not easy. I really gave it my all today.”

In an on-course interview early on in his final round, Lawrence explained how he quite enjoyed being the hunter, rather than the hunted. “It frees me up a little,” he said. “I can play my naturally aggressive game and chase the birdies, rather than trying to protect a lead.”

Protecting a lead was precisely what seemed to hamstring Luiten as he tried desperately not to make mistakes. In the end, that little bit of extra caution played into the hands of Lawrence who never stopped looking for shots in what turned out to be a thrilling chase.

“I feel sorry for Joost,” said Lawrence. “I know how tough this game is, and my being so emotional shows that this means the word to me, as I’m sure it would have meant to him. But I played really well today. At some points, I didn’t think I was going to make a single par. It was birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey. It was just taking, giving, taking, giving. When I saw Joost missed that two-footer on 17, I knew exactly how tough those putts are on these greens. So I feel for him… that’s another reason why I’m emotional – it’s because I know how tough this game is, and everyone wants to win.”

After the roller-coaster Lawrence rode through his front nine with five birdies and two bogeys, it seemed as if three bogeys and a birdie in the first four holes of his homeward nine had sunk his campaign. But he put his big-boy pants on and birdied 15 with a sublime putt from over 36 feet. And when he hit a delightful tee shot to inside five feet on the par-three 17^th, he set up what had looked an unlikely victory just four holes earlier.

The win projects him to rise to 15^th in the Race to Dubai standings, and will take him inside the world’s top 100 on the Official World Golf Ranking. It feels as if he belongs there.

Behind him, Justin Walters and Wilco Nienaber finished in a share of 26^th on four-under after closing rounds of 72 and 69 respectively. Jayden Schaper, Hennie du Plessis and JC Ritchie were one shot further back in a share of 31^st after rounds of 75, 70 and 68. Darren Fichardt had a level-par 72 to finish on two-under in a share of 38^th and Bryce Easton signed for a closing 74 to move to one-under for the tournament in a share of 43^rd.

Tristen Strydom was on three-over after his final round of seven-over 79 and Daniel van Tonder had a closing 78. They finished in 62^nd and 75^th respectively.