Thriston Lawrence follows Els to victory at Royal Lytham

Lawrence carded rounds of 72, 69, 72 and 68 off the blue tees at the Open Championship venue in England to edge out Dutchman Darius van Driel by one shot on a winning total of one-over-par 281.

Blairgowrie’s Scottish Boys’ champion, Bradley Neil, finished in third on 283, while third round leader, Hurley Long from Germany, took fourth on four over.

“I am immensely proud of this achievement, especially for coming from behind to win and for winning where Ernie won the Open Championship in 2012,” Lawrence said.

“I have always looked up to Ernie and to win at the same course where he won his fourth Major, is something I am always going to treasure.”

Lawrence pushed himself into early contention to tie for third at the 36-hole mark and kept up the pressure in the third round to finish four strokes off the pace from Germany’s Long.

He overcame a shaky start in the final round to turn in two over after minimising the damage of bogeys at the third and sixth and a double bogey at the fifth.

“I was hitting the ball very well over the first nine holes, but three bad shots cost me.

“I birdied the fourth and then I birdied the long par-five seventh (589 yards). It was my first birdie on the par-fives for the tournament and I think that was the game changer for me.

“I birdied the next par-five, the 11th, and picked up another birdie at the 13th.

“Hurley made six at the 12th and we were tied for the lead.”

The 17-year-old kept it in high gear at the premier links course and reeled in two more birdies at the 16th and 17th to claim the first major amateur golf title on the United Kingdom’s annual calendar.

The South African Golf Association’s number two ranked amateur went into the event ranked 124th in the world, but the category A victory will give the teenager a significant boost in the world amateur golf rankings.

The achievement will undoubtedly put him on the golfing radar in the UK, but the rising star is no stranger to golfing aficionados in his native country.

Lawrence quickly rose to prominence on the junior circuit, but he stole the headlines in March 2013 when, at the age of 16 years, two months and 26 days, he became the youngest champion of the Sanlam South African Amateur Championship title in the 106 year history of the event.

The victory at Country Club Johannesburg vaulted Lawrence into the top 10 in the Open Amateur rankings and he protected his status with three victories and a slew of top five finishes in 2012.

Following victory at the KwaZulu-Natal Stroke Play Championship, Lawrence became the first player since Teddy Weber in 1978 to successfully defend his SA Amateur title when he defeated Altin van der Merwe at Hermanus Golf Club in March.

Lawrence will be lining up in the Irish Amateur Open Championship at Royal Dublin Golf Club this weekend alongside South African number one, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, and fifth ranked NJ Arnoldi, who both missed the cut at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

– Sapa