Mulroy claims maiden European Tour win with Alfred Dunhill Championship win

Garth Mulroy emerged from the shadows of some South African greats to lift his first European Tour title at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in his native South Africa. Mulroy, who has practiced with the likes of Ernie Els and Retief Goosen in the past, battled to a two-shot win over Scot George Murray at Leopard Creek Country Club to lift the €158,000 first prize and leave him with a difficult choice for 2012.

Mulroy qualified a month ago via the Nationwide Tour to compete in 2012 on the PGA Tour; now he also has a two-year exemption for the European Tour. But based in North Carolina, USA, it is likely Mulroy will opt for the riches of the PGA Tour.

Starting the day with a two-shot lead, Mulroy looked shaky early on, bogeying the second hole to allow Jbe Kruger to draw level. But that challenge faltered with a shot that found the water at the ninth and with the way seeming clear, Mulroy proceeded to make the best of his way home and posted four birdies between the 6^th and 13^th holes.

However, a dropped shot at the 14^th coupled with an eagle by George Murray at the 15^th put the title on a knife-edge – albeit briefly. The Scot couldn’t find another gain over the closing holes, but Mulroy pulled clear again with birdies at the 15^th and 16^th – the latter with a monster 60-foot downhill putt – before coming home with a pair of pars to seal the win.

For Murray, it was his best ever European Tour finish, and he was clear of third placed South African duo George Coetzee and Jaco Van Zyl, fellow Scot Peter Whiteford and Chilean Felipe Aguilar, who missed a three-footer on the final green that would have guaranteed him third spot outright on his own.

Murray’s win also all but guaranteed he wouldn’t need to go back to Qualifying School – he’s earned his Tour Card five times previously via Q-School – and his earnings from this event and his third place finish in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews a few weeks ago move him inside the top-80 in the Race to Dubai.