Dylan Frittelli won his first DP World Tour title in six years with a two-shot triumph at the Bahrain Championship presented by Bapco Energies.
The 33-year-old posted a closing one under par round of 71 to finish on 13 under par, two clear of countryman Zander Lombard and Sweden’s Jesper Svensson, who shared second on 11 under.
The South African held a two-stroke lead at the start of the final day at Royal Golf Club, but was overtaken as he sat two over par after 12 holes. Back-to-back birdies at the two par fives that followed saw him return to level par, before a final birdie at the par three 16th proved to be enough to secure his sixth professional title.
Frittelli graduated from the European Challenge Tour in 2016 and went on to win the LYONESS OPEN powered by ORGANIC+ and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in 2017, before moving to the PGA TOUR and taking the title at the 2019 John Deere Classic.
After a difficult 2023 which left him contemplating his future, he has now emphatically returned to form and can plan a full schedule after previously having limited playing rights on both the DP World Tour and the PGA TOUR.
“It feels great, it feels awesome,” he said,
“It’s been a long road the last five or six years since I left the DP World Tour and went to the States. It was a pretty tough year last year in America but it feels awesome to back on top right now.
“Last year I was in a couple of spots where I thought I was giving the game up to be honest and looking for something else.
“I found some resolve at the end of last year and got some good work from my physio and my coaches and trainers. I’m glad I persevered and all the support from family and friends has been well worth it.
“I prefer to be five shots ahead if I could be, that would be a whole lot easier coming down the stretch.
“I think it shows my mental toughness, it shows the focus I have and those things that you can’t really quantify. I was swinging it great all week and then all of a sudden couldn’t hit it on the planet on the Sunday round so I’m glad I managed to have the resolve.”
He was pushed all the way by Lombard and Svensson, the latter of whom secured his second runner up finish of the season during an impressive week in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Fourth place was shared by South African Ockie Strydom and Frenchman Frederic Lacroix, who has finished outside the top five only once in his four starts in the 2024 season, on nine under.
Victory means Frittelli will jump 51 places to eighth on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex and to fifth on the International Swing Rankings.
