Richard Sterne was the main benefactor on the final day of the Alfred Dunhill Championship, clinching the tournament by one shot after both Thomas Aiken and Len Mattiace threw away their overnight advantages at the Leopard Creek Golf Club.
The 27-year-old South African carded a final-round three-under-par 69 for an overall total of 271, making the most of constant lapses from overnight leader Aiken and American Mattiace, who ended day four with scores of 75 and 77 respectively.
Englishman Robert Rock finished tied-second with Johan Edfors - the Swede carding a 66 for the best final round score alongside Alan McLean and 2007 South Open winner James Kingston.
Aiken, who powered his way to a course-record 61 on Saturday and held a one-stroke lead heading into the final day, finished in fourth place with Rafael Cabrera Bello on 15 under par, while Scotland's McLean and another home favourite Keith Horne ended a further stroke back.
But the day belonged to Sterne, whose last win on the European Tour came at the Joburg Open at the start of 2008.
The world number 113, who clinched his fifth European title in the process, would have been surprised by the manner at which the leading overnight pair fell away.
Aiken started out well enough with two birdies in his opening four holes and was four shots ahead at one point.
But bogeys on the par-four ninth, 10th and 18th holes, added to a double bogey on the 11th saw him end his round on three over par, while Mattiace finished on five over par with two bogeys and a pair of triple bogeys.
Speaking afterward, Sterne admitted he was a little surprised by the manner at which the leaders had fallen.
"I actually only saw the leaderboard on 16 and thought the leaders will probably be on 17 or 18 under," he said.
"So I got a bit of a surprise when I was leading by one. I made a good two putt there and I knew that 17 under was probably going to be good enough. But I'm quite happy.
"The back nine I gave away two very weak bogeys on 10 and 12, but I came back strong and that's what counts on those last six holes on a Sunday."
The Pretoria-born golfer, who becomes the first home winner of the tournament since Ernie Els in 2005, admitted that he was very nervous coming into the final hole where he shot a triple bogey and double bogey in the last two rounds.
"I was thinking 'just make a par, that's all I've got to do'," he continued. "Obviously I wasn't feeling very comfortable on that hole and I played it exactly how I wanted to play it. I would like to have hit the putt a little closer, but fortunately I knocked it in.
"I don't think many people have won with a triple and double on that hole."
The win also helped him secure the local Sunshine Tour Order of Merit title.
He added: "I don't think anyone can catch me now with just one tournament left. I was quite worried about that, but I knew if I came in at least second, I would have had a good chance."
After finishing 17th and 14th in the tournament over the last two years, Englishman Rock said he was pleased with most parts of his game, but had to work on a few aspects heading into the SA Open at Pearl Valley next week.
"It was a good finish really," he said.
"I hit my iron shots really close. The start of the round didn't really go to plan, I didn't make any putts, I had 31 today.
"The heat was not as bad as yesterday, I was really happy with the week. Obviously I've got to do some practising on the putting, but it's been a good performance, so I'll now be looking forward to Cape Town next week," added the 31-year-old, who had four top-10 finishes last season.
Collated final round scores & totals
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
271 Richard Sterne (Rsa) 68 66 68 69
272 Robert Rock 66 67 69 70, Johan Edfors (Swe) 66 69 71 66
273 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 72 65 61 75, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 66 71 68 68
274 Alan McLean 68 74 66 66, Keith Horne (Rsa) 70 69 65 70
275 Tyrone Mordt (Rsa) 68 67 68 72, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 68 69 67 71, Robert Dinwiddie 69 70 68 68, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 65 72 70 68, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 69 64 69 73, David Lynn 68 68 66 73
276 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 68 67 71 70, Len Mattiace (USA) 65 68 66 77
277 John E Morgan 67 68 68 74, Chris Wood 69 70 70 68, David Dixon 70 70 67 70, Lee Westwood 66 70 70 71, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 68 67 72 70
278 Garry Houston 72 69 67 70, Garth Mulroy (Rsa) 68 69 68 73, David Horsey 72 70 68 68, Jean Hugo (Rsa) 73 69 68 68, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 68 70 73 67, Tc Charamba (Zim) 70 68 70 70
279 Gareth Maybin 72 69 66 72, Andrew Coltart 70 70 69 70
280 Gary Lockerbie 68 71 67 74, Damien McGrane 71 66 70 73, David Drysdale 71 71 66 72, Sam Walker 71 68 69 72, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 69 69 73 69, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spa) 67 70 71 72, Mark Murless (Rsa) 70 70 68 72, Simon Dyson 71 71 70 68
281 Michiel Bothma (Rsa) 69 71 68 73, Callum Macaulay 72 69 71 69, James Kingston (Rsa) 73 69 73 66, Danny Willett 72 70 66 73, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 71 69 70 71
282 Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 70 67 69 76, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 71 69 69 73, Trevor Fisher Jnr (Rsa) 72 70 66 74
283 Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 70 67 70 76, George Coetzee (Rsa) 70 70 68 75, Albert Pistorius (Rsa) 71 71 74 67, Deane Pappas (Rsa) 75 66 70 72
284 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 69 69 73 73, Taco Remkes (Ned) 72 70 72 70, Bradford Vaughan (Rsa) 71 71 72 70, Ross McGowan 70 72 69 73
285 Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 69 68 71 77, Jacques Blaauw (Rsa) 73 67 69 76, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 71 71 69 74, Branden Grace (Rsa) 70 69 74 72
286 Jonathan Caldwell 70 67 72 77, Neil Cheetham 68 69 73 76, Adilson Da Silva (Bra) 70 68 73 75, Estanislao Goya (Arg) 70 68 75 73, Justin Walters (Rsa) 72 70 76 68
287 Marcus Higley 71 70 73 73, Warren Abery (Rsa) 68 68 77 74, Jake Roos (Rsa) 72 69 76 70
288 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 71 71 76 70, Iain Pyman 71 69 73 75, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 68 74 71 75, Seve Benson 68 74 76 70
290 Jamie Little 72 69 75 74
292 Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa) 70 68 78 76
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