Thriston

Lawrence

Lawrence played the role of defending champ last week at the Joburg Open. He wasn’t able to go back-to-back but did add a trophy to his resume just one week later. It was a two-man race today between Lawrence and Sordet and it looked like Lawrence would cruise to victory when he opened with four birdies to one bogey on his first 10 holes. Three back-nine bogeys and a double bogey certainly made things interesting but Lawrence got the job done. “It felt all easy going through the round and then golf happened at the end. Clement was playing really well, I was playing well then made a few mistakes, missed them on the wrong sides and couldn’t score from there.” Lawrence now has three career wins on the DP World Tour, all coming in the last 12 months. He will jump to 64th in the OWGR with this win which is the best rank of his young career (previously 87th was his best; entered the week at 90th).

The South African was 503rd in OWGR entering last year’s edition of the Joburg Open. The event was shortened to 36 holes due to weather and travel concerns. While many put an asterisk next to that win, he proved it wasn’t a flash in the pan as he added 12 more top 20s by season’s end. That included another win, at the European Masters. “It’s my first time defending, and I’m defending the tournament that changed my life so it’s great to be back and I can’t wait for the week.” While he may be playing the role of defending champ, he’ll be doing so at a different venue as they head to Houghton GC this week. Back to his World Ranking, he arrives at 90th in the OWGR, a big year-over-year jump to say the least.

Lawrence burst onto the scene with a win to open the season at the Joburg Open, an event that was shortened to 36 holes due to weather and COVID-19 travel restrictions. He backed up that win with five additional top 10s before capping off the victory this week in the mountains. To validate the 36-hole win surely means a lot to him and he’ll climb to 9th in the season-long points race as a result. Speaking of rankings, he also vaults to 87th in the OWGR, “It’s a dream come true. Growing up, you always want to be in the top 100 in the world and to achieve it is quite emotional.” The South African will try to keep his momentum rolling this week at the Made in Himmeland in Denmark.

The 25-year-old From South Africa carded a 5-under 66 on Sunday at Muthaiga Golf Club, finishing four strokes behind winner Ashun Wu of China and tied for second place at 12-under 272 with Germany’s Hurly Long and Canada’s Aaron Cockerill. In five starts since his win, he’s missed two cuts, and Lawrence is hopeful to carry momentum from last week into the next two weeks on home soil at the MyGolfLife Open hosted by Pecanwood and the Steyn City Championship. “I think my best result before the win was 17th in Mauritius a few years ago,” he said. “It’s definitely a confidence booster and I’m excited for the two weeks ahead in South Africa.”

The 25-year-old Lawrence shot 65-65 at Randpark GC in Johannesburg, South Africa, to finish at 12-under 130, good for a four-stroke win over countryman Zander Lobard. The tournament was shortened to 36 holes due to weather and travel concerns due to a spike in the COVID-19 variant. His previous best finish on the DPWT was a T-17 at the 2019 Mauritius Open and a T-10 on the Challenge Tour at the Cape Town Open that same season. Lawrence is two-time winner on the Sunshine Tour, earning his first victory in 2018 at the Big Easy Challenge 15 followed by his second title in 2019 at the Vodacom Origins Stellenbosch.

This week’s event took a major hit when many countries added South Africa to the no-fly list due to the latest COVID-19 variant popping up in the region. That news sparked the tour to shorten the tournament to 54 holes but Mother Nature rolled through on Saturday to make it clear that 18 holes would not be completed today. As a result, third-round scores were scratched and Lawrence’s four-shot lead after 36 holes will go in the books as the final score. Lawrence’s previous best finish on tour was a T17 at the 2019 Mauritius Open. “I’m shaking to be honest... lift-changing moment. A lot of things that are going to change now in my schedule.” The 24-year-old will now have a DP World Tour exemption until 2023 and also secured a spot at the 2022 Open Championship with this performance.

The South African missed the cut in four of his last five worldwide starts but landed a solo 6th in his most recent start (Blair Atholl Championship on the Sunshine Tour). He’s building on that momentum so far this week at Randpark Golf Club. The 24-year-old has played the front nine blemish-free this week (7-under) while trading three birdies and two eagles with two bogeys on the homeward nine (5-under). Lawrence currently sits outside of the top 500 in the OWGR (503) and has never finished better than T17 on the DP World Tour (2019 Mauritius Open). There is still a long way to go but this would be quite the surprising breakout win if Lawrence can maintain this pace over the weekend.

Lawrence had a rare two-eagle performance today when navigating the Firethorn Course at Randpark Golf Course. His first big bird came at the par-5 14th and he would add a non-tradtional eagle later at the par-4 sixth hole. Lawrence had just one blemish today, a bogey at the par-4 11th, early in his round. The 24-year-old missed the cut in all five of his DP World Tour appearances last season but he’s flipping that script early on at the Joburg. Lawrence has two career wins on his pro resume, one on the Big Easy Tour and one on the Sunshine Tour. His best finish on the big stage is a T17 at the 2019 Mauritius Open.

The 23-year-old moved over 30 spots up the leaderboard with his excellent circuit of the Firethorn Course at Randpark GC in Johannesburg and it earned him a first top 25 halfway position on the European Tour. His aim now will be to seal a career best finish on the circuit. His current high is T17 earned in his last start the Mauritius Open (indeed that improved on his only previous top 50 – T49 – in the start before at the Alfred Dunhill Championship). His was a flawless Friday, witnessing three front nine birdies at the fifth, eighth and ninth. Then on the way home he took full toll of the par-5s, ticking the 12th and making eagle-3 at the 14th. When he signed his card only Tapio Pulkkanen was ahead of him in the scoring and only Trevor Fisher Jr in position to change that.