Early and Late Surges Give Harding Victory in Qatar; Van Rooyen Ties for 2nd

DOHA, Qatar -- Justin Harding had a very nice symmetry to his final round in the Qatar Masters. The 33-year-old South African birdied three of the first four holes at Doha Golf Club and three of the last four holes, as well, on his way to a 6-under-par 66. That gave him a 72-hole total of 275 (13 under) and a two-stroke victory.

This was his first win on the European Tour, but he won four times last year on other tours, twice in South Africa (the Sunshine Tour) in May and twice on the Asian Tour in July. Nevertheless, he was not fully exempt for the European Tour. Now he is.

For the effort, he made 259,669 euros. 

There was a small army of contenders on Sunday, and in the end nine of them tied for second place at 277. Among them was former University of Minnesota star Erik Van Rooyen, who like Harding, is a South African. He closed with a 70. 

Van Rooyen, who won the Minnesota State Amateur in 2012 and the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am in 2016, has yet to win on the Euro Tour, but he's now finished second  twice and has multiple other top-5 finishes. The 69,988 euros that he earned Sunday moved him up from No. 62 to No. 39 on the 2018-19 European Tour money list, with 192,844 euros in six events.   


EUROPEAN TOUR

Qatar Masters

At Doha GC

Par 72, 7,425 yards

Final results 

1. Juestin Harding, RSA                     269,669 euros      68-68-73-66--275

T2. Erik Van Rooyen, RSA                 68,988 euros      69-68-70-70--277

T2. Jorge Campillo, Spain                    68,988 euros     72-69-68-69--277

T2. Christian Bezuidenhout, RSA         68,988 euros     72-71-66-68--277

T2. Jinho Choi, Korea                           69,988 euros     72-69-72-64--277

T2. Nacho Elvira, Spain                        69,988 euros     71-67-69-70--277

T2. Anton Karlsson, Sweden                69,988 euros     72-66-70-69--277

T2. Mike Lorenzo-Vera, France            69,988 euros     68-68-71-70--277

T2. Oliver Wilson, England                  69,988 euros      69-68-69-71--277

T2. George Coetzee, RSA                   69,988 euros     68-68-73-68--277