South African pro wins his national open for second straight title, earns 2 major invites

Seven days ago Casey Jarvis had not won a DP World Tour title. Now he’s won twice—including his national open—and has earned invitations into both the Masters and Open Championship.

Jarvis shot 64-67 over the weekend of the South African Open at Stellenbosch Golf Club and cruised to a three-shot victory over Francesco Laporta, Hennie Du Plessis and Frederic LaCroix. Jarvis birdied three of his first five holes on the back nine and parred the last four consecutive holes to win easily.

Last week he captured the Kenya Open after a final-round 62.

“I feel on top of the world in this moment," Jarvis, 22, said. "I feel absolutely incredible.

"To win in front of my home crowd in my home open is just absolutely fantastic, I've got no words.”

Augusta National changed its criteria last year and the winner of the South African Open now earns an invite into the Masters. The championship was already part of the Open Qualifying Series and Jarvis is now eligible to play at Royal Birkdale. Laporta and LaCroix also earned spots in the Open Championship with their second-place tie at 11 under par. Du Plessis, however, did not earn an invite because he’s ranked lower in the Official World Golf Ranking.

“It's been a dream of mine since I was a kid to play at Augusta," Jarvis said. "I thought about it this morning, I tried not to but it was hard not to think about it, but I cannot wait to go there and see how my game compares to the best players in the world."

Meanwhile, Lucas Herbert qualified for the British Open via a second-place finish at the New Zealand Open at Millbrook Resort in Queenstown. Daniel Hillier actually won the championship by two shots, but he was already exempt into the British Open, so the spot slid to Lucas Herbert, who plays full-time with LIV Golf.