Casey Jarvis was the main beneficiary when it came to the Investec South African Open Championship, as the home-hero wrapped up the top prize and a spot at The Open Championship and The Masters.
Claiming back-to-back DP World Tour titles, thanks to his Magical Kenya Open victory, Jarvis has enjoyed a fine run of results, but it was Hennie Du Plessis who enjoyed the fruits of his labor on Sunday.
Staged at Stellenbosch Golf Club, the course possessed no existing course record, which meant a significant prize purse was up for grabs in South Africa.
The DP World Tour introduced the Course Record presented by Nexo, which offers players a chance of securing a prize pot for shooting a course record, with it coming into play at the end of 2025.
Throughout the run of DP World Tour events, no competitor had beaten the course records on the layouts played, which meant $100,000 was up for grabs at Stellenbosch Golf Club, which didn't possess a course record.
According to the DP World Tour, "the first player who sets the course record that continues to stand at the close of the competition will claim the money. If the course record is tied, the prize is awarded to the first player to set the record.
"The base prize for the season-long award started at US$10,000 but through the opening ten events of the campaign no new course records have been made, meaning the money has rolled over week to week."
Carding a 65 on Thursday, Alejandro del Rey held the accolade through the first round but, on Friday, Hennie Du Plessis bettered it with a seven-under 63.
That score held on until Sunday, when it was matched by Freddy Schott but, because Du Plessis' 63 came first, it meant that he bagged the $100,000 payday, which was almost the same as his final purse
Because of his tied second finish in Stellenbosch, Du Plessis secured an $111,000 paycheck, with the course record moving his weekly earnings to $211,000.
Previously, Grant Forrest and Marco Penge were the only two players to card course records last season, at the Nexo Championship and Danish Golf Championship respectively, both resulting in two $10,000 awards.
Securing $100,000, Du Plessis added to his fine results at the Magical Kenya Open, as well as top 20s at the Dubai Desert Classic, Bahrain Championship and Qatar Masters.
