The Punter's De-brief: Norris matched at 179/1 before claiming the spoils

• Clear 54-hole leader flops in final round

• Two players trade at odds-on and lose

• Read my Mauritius Open preview here

Marcus Kinhult, who was matched at as high as 260.0259/1 before the off, led the Alfred Dunhill Championship by two strokes with a round to go and he was matched at a low of 1.84/5 when he extended his lead to three with a birdie at the par five second on Sunday. But that was as good as it got for the Swede.

Back-to-back bogeys at three and four by Kinhult blew the tournament wide open. Having trailed by four after the second hole, pre-event 400.0399/1 chance Ryan Van Velzen was tied at the top after he'd gone birdie-birdie at three and four.

The promising young Spaniard, Angel Ayora, drew alongside the leading pair when he birdied the par three fifth. Ayora was matched at a low of 3.9 when he made another at the short par four sixth, but he struggled after that, playing his last 12 holes in three-over-par.

Poor Kinhult's challenge for the title was dealt a huge blow when he four-putted the par three seventh as contenders emerged from off the pace.

54 hole leader Marcus Kinhult made a three putt from here.#DunhillChamps pic.twitter.com/z0Kgr20jWA

-- DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 15, 2024

England's John Parry, who's won three times on the Challenge Tour this year, was tied for the lead after a birdie at the 10^th . Norris tied for the lead when he birdied the par five 13^th.

While sitting in the clubhouse, Norris led on his own after Ayora had bogeyed the 12^th, Parry the tough 16^th and Van Velzen had made an ugly three-putt bogey at the par five 13^th. But it still looked likely that Norris's -13 total wouldn't quite be enough.

Van Velzen, who was one of my two Find Me a 100 Winner picks at 400.0399/1 last week, drew back alongside Norris with a birdie at the 14^th and with two par fives still to come, the market favoured the young South African strongly.

Van Velzen missed birdie putts at 15, 16, and 17. After a brilliant, long drive at the par five 18^th, however, he still looked the most likely man to prevail, and he was matched at a low of 1.728/11.

Needing a birdie four to win, it looked like he'd hit a great shot from 220 yards out but the trajectory of the shot was just too low and it was painful to watch.

Co-leader Ryan Van Velzen finds the water at the 72nd hole!

He must get up and down to force a play-off.#DunhillChamps pic.twitter.com/Rm6mNjGwxq

-- DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 15, 2024

To his credit, he hit a great fourth shot from the drop zone to around 12 feet to give himself a chance, but the putt slipped past the hole and Norris was given the news that he'd won.

His response was to say, "you're joking" and it really was an unlikely success.

Having been an 80.079/1 chance before the off, Norris was trading at around that price when trailing by six with a round to go and he was matched at as high as 180.0179/1 in-running.

Having started round four nicely with an eagle at two and a birdie at six, he looked out of the equation when he double bogeyed the par three seventh. Even though he bounced back to play his next eight holes in four-under-par, when he failed to birdie the 18^th, a hole he'd birdied in rounds one, two and three, it didn't look like he'd quite done enough.

A host of players were within one or two of Norris' clubhouse lead, but they all fell short. As was the case last week, when Johannes Veerman, posted a score that nobody could match, the value in the market had been sitting in the clubhouse.

Having played most of his career in Asia and Japan, this was 42-year-old Norris' second success on the DP World Tour.

He's the fourth South African winner of the Alfred Dunhill Championship in-a-row and 10 of the last 12 editions have now been won by a South African.

*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter

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