As the final group teed off, all eyes were on the tournament leader. With White having blown a six shot lead in the VCD Open 2002, the chasing pack were hoping history would repeat itself. Unfortunately for White, his nearest rivals did not have long to wait. A scrappy bogey at the opening par three set the tone for his round and with worse to follow, White’s lead evaporated by just the third hole.
From here, Brain Norris took control, opening up a three shot lead over the field at the fifth. But Sheldrick was not to about to throw in the towel. With Norris making a mess of the par three seventh and Sheldrick powering his way to an effortless par at the tricky eighth, the deficit was soon reduced to a single shot.
Norris carried his slender lead into the back nine, before Sheldrick finally drew level at the tenth. But the new Tour number one was not ready to be overhauled so easily, going on to open up a further two shot cushion over the next two holes. From here it seemed that Norris would go on to claim a third Major title, but with fatigue beginning to show, the errors started to creep in. Sheldrick was also feeling the heat, but as Norris posted consecutive double bogeys, Sheldrick was ready to pounce and duly took his chance.
A magnificent par at the par five sixteenth saw Sheldrick lead by two, the first time he had a led a major in his entire career. Despite Norris closing the gap at the penultimate hole and the pressure being fully on, Sheldrick eased his way down the last to claim his first title and a long awaited place in the history books.
