Mbombela’s very own Thriston Lawrence is continuing to show that he is in the form of his life, powering his way to second place at the 2024 British Masters.
Hot off his fourth Sunshine Tour win at the SunBet Challenge Times Square the week prior, Lawrence put on a top display of his abilities at The Belfry in England for the British Masters between August 29 and September 1. From the word go, the 27-year-old born-and-raised Mbombelan golfer was right in the mix at the front of the pack.
An opening round of 68 propped him into tied-second place after day one, one shot behind the leading duo of Jeong Weon Ko and Paul Waring. In the second round, Lawrence carded a three-under-par round of 69 to place him on seven-under heading into the weekend.
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He was three shots off Englishman Tyrell Hatton, who scored a brilliant 65 in the second round to lead the British Masters at -10.
But in the third round, the wheels firmly started to come off for Hatton, while Lawrence was largely able to remain cool, calm and collected. The South African’s third round was far from perfect, though, as a double bogey and two bogeys left him with all the more to do on the second nine if he were to remain in contention for the title.
He did just this as he finished with a flourish of four straight birdies to card his lowest round of the week – a five under 67, which meant that he stayed four shots off the lead with Niklas Norgaard leading the way at -16.
Lawrence enjoyed a better-than-most final day as he tried to chase down the Dane that was at the front of the pack.
Norgaard was shaky in the final round, dropping shots on two occasions in the first nine. Lawrence wasn’t exactly able to capitalise on this, though, but the lead was cut to three shots. A double bogey on the 15th hole for Norgaard brought Lawrence within two shots of the lead.
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However, the Danish golfer managed to keep his cool on the closing three holes and stave off a hungry Lawrence in search of his fifth DP World Tour victory. Lawrence finished on -14 for the week, two shots behind Norgaard in the end. His final round of 70 meant that Lawrence was one of only four golfers to break par in every round of the week.
It also adds to what has proved to be Lawrence’s best season yet. He finds himself ranked 62nd in the Official World Golf Rankings, his best-ever ranking. Additionally, Lawrence is ranked second in the DP World Tour’s Race 2 Dubai Rankings, the highest he’s ever been on this list.
This year is also Lawrence’s most lucrative on the DP World Tour to date. With total winnings of €1 811 985 (an estimated R36 061 545), he has surpassed his previous best earnings from 2022 (€1 585 881.33).