Sharma seals South African golf event

JOHANNESBURG: Indian Shubhankar Sharma completed his maiden European Tour triumph Monday in Johannesburg by winning the Joburg Open tournament he almost did not compete in.

He carded a three-under-par last-round 69 to finish three strokes clear of South African Eric van Rooyen in an event that stretched to five days because of bad weather. The final round was suspended Sunday due to torrential rain, lightning and hail and resumed Monday at 0730 local time (0530 GMT). Sharma birdied three holes on the outward trek, then parred all the inward-nine holes with immaculate approach shots and putting highlights of his game. After three bogeys during his opening-round 69 last Thursday, Sharma played 55 holes without dropping a shot and his second-round 61 was the lowest score of the tournament.