Notables
Has anybody ever won back-to-back major tour events with double-digit victory margins? Perhaps, but as of Sunday evening I’m not aware of anyone dredging up whom or when it might have been. Until now, of course, as Charl Schwartzel completed part two of his overseas demolition job by winning the European Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Championship (née the South African PGA, and still co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour) by a resounding 12 shots over touted Swedish rookie Kristoffer Broberg. Second and third-round 64s separated the 2011 Masters champion from the field, allowing a rain-interrupted closing 69 to set the final eye-popping margin of victory. Just seven days earlier, Schwartzel ran away with the Asian Tour’s Thailand Golf Championship by a remarkable 11 shots – and that was a field which included Lee Westwood, Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Nicolas Colsaerts and Hunter Mahan, among others. Nick Faldo’s ancient line about being “So hot he should be wearing asbestos pants” comes to mind here, and with three of the E Tour’s first six 2013 events being played in South Africa, one might well expect a big start to the new year for Schwartzel………Another former Masters champion enjoyed a big (if less-covered) weekend as Angel Cabrera claimed his first triumph worldwide since winning the 2009 Green Jacket, closing with a 64 to win his native Argentine Open for a third time. Cabrera entered play ranked 301st in the world (his lowest point since initially ascending to international prominence) and given the Open’s relatively light field, likely won’t receive a massive bump from the victory. He might, however, receive a massive boost in confidence which, at age 43, might be just enough to help him make one more run towards the top in 2013.