England’s Dan Bradbury secured his maiden DP World Tour title finishing with a four-under 67 in the final round at the Joburg Open, the first event of the 2022-23 DP World Tour season.
In only his third professional start, the 23-year-old, who turned professional in July, secured victory finishing three strokes ahead of Sami Valimaki. The Wakefield-born rookie entered the final round of the competition with a slim one-shot lead but showed his quality sinking five birdies including at the 13th and 16th at the Houghton Golf Club to cement a wire-to-wire victory.
Bradbury took part in the Joburg Open thanks to a sponsor invitation and leaves Johannesburg with a two-year exemption on the DP World Tour and a place at next year’s Open.
“It is going to take a few days for this victory to sink in,” Bradbury said.
“I just enjoyed it, a lot of good golf, it was just a great week all round. Just drawing on experiences from college golf, just played solid golf, didn’t try and do anything I couldn’t do.”
Asked what it meant to get an invitation to the Joburg Open, Bradbury said: “It means the world, I wouldn’t be stood here without it. I wouldn’t have anywhere to play this year without it. It’s been life changing. Hopefully I make the most of it.
Finn Sami Valimaki did not manage to make enough ground on Bradbury after slipping up on the front nine and the last but managed to salvage a round of 69 which was enough to seal a T2 finish.
The next events on the DP World Tour are he Investec South African Open Championship and the ISPS Honda Australian Open both taking place between 1st – 4th December.