While the focus was justifiably on the winner on Sunday, Thriston Lawrence’s final round of nine-under-par 63 took him into a share of second in the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour co-sanctioned Jonsson Workwear Open at Glendower Golf Club.

Lawrence wrapped up his fifth top-10 finish in his 10 starts since the start of the latest DP World Tour season last November, and he also has an 11^th and a 19^th in his list. He made two eagles, six birdies and a bogey as he set out to try and chase down the eventual winner, Matteo Manassero of Italy.

The 27-year-old Lawrence started the day six shots behind but eagled the sixth from 15 feet to go with birdies on the fourth, seventh, ninth, 13^th, 14^th and 16^th to stalk the leaders. He found the fairway bunker on the 17^th but put a brilliant second to 15 feet for another eagle and he set the clubhouse target at 23-under.

Manassero ended a nearly 11-year wait to take what was his fifth DP World Tour title as he finished things off in style with birdies on all of the final four holes – despite a two-and-a-half hour break for bad weather right in the middle of that closing stretch.

The Italian has experienced all the highs and lows that golf has to offer since becoming the DP World Tour’s youngest winner at the age of 17 years and 188 days at the 2010 Castelló Masters Costa Azahar – a record he still holds.

When he lifted the trophy at the 2013 BMW PGA Championship for a fourth victory in as many seasons, he had the golfing world at his feet and it seemed impossible to think he would not win on the DP World Tour for another 3,942 days.

“This is the best day of my life on a golf course for sure,” said Manassero, who finished his round with four birdies. “It’s been a crazy journey over the last couple of years. I knew that I was getting on the right track but then you never know.

“Even coming down the 18^th with a good tee-shot, you still have to do some work. Golf is a really difficult and tough game so I am just so incredibly happy to be here holding this (trophy) right now.

“I think I played really good golf today basically the whole round. It’s really hard. The guys behind were playing some incredible golf and every time you look at the leaderboard there is a different name with more birdies.

“Every time during a round of golf you have some times that if you can go through them you see light and then the finish was amazing.”

Lawrence, at 23-under and three behind the winner, wasn’t the only South African who challenged Manassero: Shaun Norris shared second with him and England’s Jordan Smith after a closing four-under-par 68, and Oliver Bekker pressed hard – perhaps too hard on the 18^th in the gathering darkness where he made double-bogey – for his fourth-round 69 and a share of sixth on 21-under.