JOHANNESBURG, November 27, 2011 (AFP) - Hennie Otto shot a final round par 72 on Sunday to win the South African Open for his second win on the EPGA Tour.
The 35-year-old South African - whose previous win was the 2008 Italian Open - held off Austria's Bernd Wiesberger by one shot after a mixed back nine.
"I've been close a few times a couple of years ago and couldn't pull it off," said Otto after the win at the Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
Otto carded a final 14-under-par total of 274 and he was delighted to have added his name to the rollcall of winners.
"I said it yesterday there's some good names on there and I would like to have it on there one day and today's the day," he said.
Otto went into day four with a three stroke lead and held onto the top of the leaderboard over former double champion Retief Goosen, Swede Magnus A Carlsson, England's Richard McEvoy and Thomas Aiken.
On the back nine he hit three bogeys and two birdies to end the day's round on par.
"I made it tough for myself," he said after parring the final hole following a crucial birdie on the 17th.
"They had to catch me today and I worked it out if I make four under, they have to make seven under. It didn't work out that way. I needed to birdie 17 and two putt 18," he added.
Wiesberger carded a final round of four-under-par 68 to come in second in the co-sanctioned European and Sunshine Tour event.
In joint third were McEvoy, Ockie Strydom and Aiken who ended on 11-under-par.
Goosen carded a 73 and dropped into a tie for sixth, while five-time champion and defending title holder Ernie Els hit a 79 and ended the tournament in joint 69th.
The contest, the second oldest national championship after the British Open, turns 101 this year.
Notably absent from the tournament were locals and Major winners Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, who were competing at the Mission Hills World Cup in China.
The course on the outskirts of Johannesburg, called the Masai Mara, opened in 2009 with its signature hole the par-five number eight, which has an island green.
Leading scores after the final round of the one-million-euro South African Open on Sunday at the par-72, Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate on the outskirts of Johannesburg (RSA unless noted):
274 - Hennie Otto 70-67-65-72
275 - Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 69-68-70-68
277 - Richard McEvoy (ENG) 70-70-69-68, Ockie Strydom 69-72-67-69, Thomas Aiken 68-69-68-72
278 - Trevor Fisher Jnr 68-72-70-68, Retief Goosen 66-68-71-73, Magnus A Carlsson (SWE) 73-66-66-73
279 - Branden Grace 69-68-74-68, Lloyd Saltman (SCO) 69-68-72-70, Jaco Ahlers 74-67-65-73, Garth Mulroy 67-68-70-74
280 - Chris Swanepoel 72-68-71-69, Thomas Norret (DEN) 69-69-71-71, Carlos Del Moral (ESP) 70-70-69-71, Lyle Rowe 69-66-73-72, Keith Horne 68-69-70-73, Markus Brier (AUT) 68-72-67-73, Richard Bland (ENG) 72-69-66-73
281 - Peter Whiteford (SCO) 70-71-70-70, Jaco Van Zyl 69-69-72-71, Tyrone Mordt 66-72-71-72, Jean Hugo 67-69-71-74, Merrick Bremner 66-68-72-75