Golf: Rose wins Dunhill Championship

Justin Rose claimed his first European Tour title with victory in the Dunhill Championship in Johannesburg.

Rose carded a final round 65 at Houghton Golf Club for a 20-under-par total of 268.

That gave him a two-shot victory over England's Mark Foster and South African pair Retief Goosen and Martin Maritz.

Anthony Wall, winner in 2000, Paul McGinley and Welshman Mark Mouland shared fifth place a shot further back.

England's Sandeep Grewal finished an excellent eighth in only his second European Tour event.

Rose began the day four shots off the lead, but made the perfect start with a birdie at the first, and a hat-trick of birdies from the fifth took him into a share of the lead for the first time.

Another birdie on the ninth took Rose into the outright lead, only for him to bogey the next hole and fall back into a three-way tie with Foster and Els when the latter birdied the 10th.

The birdies dried up for the leaders and Goosen suddenly charged into contention with three birdies in a row from the 10th, but the European number one had left himself too much to do.

Rose broke out of the pack with a brilliant approach to four feet on the par three 15th setting up another birdie, and when another followed on the next after splashing out to two feet from a greenside bunker, Rose had a two-shot lead with two to play.

Goosen had not given up and birdied the last to get within a shot of Rose, but the Englishman responded with another birdie on the last, pitching to within two feet of the hole, to move to 20 under par.

Foster and Maritz joined Goosen on 18 under and needed to eagle the par five 18th to force a play-off, but both could only manage par and Rose, born in Johannesburg, could celebrate with family and friends.

Rose, second last year to Australian Adam Scott in this competition, shot to fame by finishing fourth in the Open at Royal Birkdale as a 17-year-old amateur, but then missed his first 22 cuts after turning professional the next day.

He needed to make three trips to the qualifying school to keep his card, but demonstrated his potential in this event 12 months ago, being pipped to the title by Scott's last hole birdie and suffering a similar fate the following week when Mark McNulty holed from 25 feet for par on the 72nd hole to win the South African Open.