Coetzee top SA player in Open
George Coetzee continued his good form in his debut appearance at the Open Championship at Royal St George's with a 15th place finish on Sunday and a four-round total of 284.
Coetzee, the top South African, put together rounds of 69, 69, 72 and 74 to finish nine shots behind popular Ulsterman Darren Clarke who won on five under par on the par-70 layout.
Coetzee's opening two rounds left him well placed for the weekend, while 2002 Open champion Ernie Els missed his second successive cut in a Major.
The weather turned bad with heavy winds and rain throughout the third and fourth round and any score around level par would have been considered a good effort.
Coetzee, who celebrates his 25th birthday on Monday, got his final round off to bad start with a bogey on the opening hole, and followed with two more drop shots on the fourth and sixth before making birdie on the par-five seventh hole.
Starting the day five shots off the lead, any hopes he had of challenging were extinguished with a double bogey on the 10th.
He made another double bogey on the par-three 16th, but his back nine did include two birdies to finish off an impressive debut.
Coetzee adds his top-15 placing to his four top-12 finishes on the European Tour this season, including two third places, most notably a tie for third at the Scottish Open the week before his first Major.
One spot behind Coetzee in a tie for 16th was Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.
Schwartzel was on the same two-under score as Coetzee heading into the weekend.
Well placed for the third round, he came unstuck in the bad weather with a double bogey, four bogies and only one birdie for a five-over 75.
Schwartzel got his score back to two over for the championship with a one-under-par opening nine in the fourth round, but came back in three over for a final round 72.
Former Masters champion Trevor Immelman finished further down in a share of 38th place.
Having battled wrist and elbow injuries after his breakthrough Major triumph in 2008, and not picking up a win since, he would have gained some confidence from his performance.
Defending champion Louis Oosthuizen, who romped to a seven-shot victory last year, finished in a lowly tie for 54th.
Oosthuizen was in danger of missing the cut and had to shoot two under for the back nine in his second round to progress.
He faded over the weekend with rounds of 74 and 77 to drop to 13 over for the tournament.
Joining Oosthuizen in a share of 54th was Rory Sabbatini who could not come to terms with the unfavourable conditions.
Two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen, who carded a first-round six-over-par 76 was forced to withdraw before the second round with a back injury.