Parry consistent but Fisher Jr breaks duck

John Parry recorded his best finish for 18 months in South Africa.

Fisher Jnr played his last 36 holes in 17 under par, adding a closing 64 to his third round of 63 to finish 24 under par, five shots ahead of England’s Matt Ford.

South African players have won the Africa Open every year since its inception in 2010, when Fisher Jnr was joint fourth behind former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel. Fellow major winner Louis Oosthuizen won the title in 2011 and 2012, with Darren Fichardt and Thomas Aiken also triumphing on home soil.

“It’s amazing,” said Fisher Jnr, who had won eight times on the Sunshine Tour. “I can’t believe it. It’s been a long time coming.

“I played well. It’s always a bit nervewracking leading, you always try not to think about the result but I think I did a good job today of staying in the moment. I was nervous the last few holes but I think that’s natural.

“I think it’s written in the stars; if you can get out of your own way you can achieve a lot of things. Everyone has to keep trying and keep working.”

Harrogate’s John Parry finished 10 shots off the lead after four consistent rounds of 68 69 69 68. By finishing in a tie for sixth, Parry recorded his third top-20 finish of the season but his first top-10 for 18 months. Malton’s Simon Dyson (75 66 69 72) was eight shots further back, with Sheffield’s Matthew Fitzpatrick (69 72 70 74) finishing on 285.

Sheffield’s Danny Willett was closing in on a top-12 finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral in Florida last night after weekend rounds of 71 and 68 saw him climb the leaderboard. Americans JB Holmes, Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson were in a three-way fight for the title.