GOLF - JOBURG OPEN:  Denmark's Anders Hansen birdied the final hole to clinch victory by one stroke over Andrew McLardy in the €1.1million Joburg Open where Michael Hoey's chances faltered on the final day in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Dane carded a final round 66 for a 15-under-par 269 winning aggregate - and the €174,350 winner's cheque - one shot ahead of South Africa's McLardy, who closed with a 68.

Joint overnight leader David Drysdale from Scotland was third on 13-under after his 69.

Hansen was playing in the penultimate group at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club and moved into a share of the lead on 14-under by the time he stood on the 18th tee.

At the closing par five the 38-year-old gave himself the ideal boost by firing his second shot 25 feet from the hole.

Although he missed the eagle chance Hansen still made birdie from three feet to set the target. McLardy was the only player capable of catching Hansen but the South African squandered too many chances to pick up shots in the closing stages.

In the end McLardy also needed a birdie at the 18th to force a play-off but he made a mess of his tee shot, pulling it into the trees. He eventually made par and had to settle for second after sharing the overnight lead with Charl Schwartzel and Drysdale going into the final round.

Although Hansen collected his third European Tour title the outcome looked less assured on Thursday when he was three-over after two holes and finished the day level par, eight shots off the first round lead.

"It means a lot to win obviously because that's of course what we're here for," said Hansen. "Especially after the first day where the first two holes I started double bogey-bogey and I was thinking 'what is this'?

"But I turned that round around and got off to a flying start the second day. I couldn't keep it going, but that sort of helped me put things into perspective thinking about the next day.

"I thought I needed to keep the third round going and again got off to a good start. And then today I thought I had to come out and shoot five under. I thought 15 under was going to be the winning score, so I was right."

His biggest move of the co-sanctioned European and Sunshine Tour event came on today's front nine where he claimed five birdies, including four in a row from the sixth to reach the turn in 31.

But a bogey on the par-three 12th hole saw him slip before he hit back on the final hole.

"I played really nicely on the front nine there and hit a lot of good shots, so it was really great," added Hansen. "It (the bogey) is obviously a momentum breaker, I didn't hit a great tee shot, and it cost me.

"(On the last) I was focused on just hitting a good drive and I did that. I hit a great second shot and the two-putt was enough, so it's great."

Hoey's challenge came unstuck when he ran up a double-bogey seven at the par five eighth after he had picked up his first birdie of the day at the sixth.

By reaching the turn in one-over 37 the Belfast pro had lost ground as the leading contenders made their moves and surged further ahead.  Unfortunately Hoey was one of only three players who finished in the top 20 who failed to break par on the final day.

On the inward nine the 2001 British Amateur champion simply couldn't find the birdies required to get him back into the tournament. Although he rallied well and picked up a second birdie at the par four 15th, the 29-year-old had to settle for a round of level par to finish in a tie for 12th on nine-under par 275.

The final day was an eventful one for Retief Goosen, who went into freefall when many expected the two-time US Open champion to challenge for the title on home soil.

Then the biggest cheer of the day came when the South African holed his three iron from 198-metres for an albatross on the 18th to end a disappointing round that included nine bogeys. He eventually signed for a 74 for a seven-under 277 total.

Defending champion Richard Sterne, bidding for a third consecutive European Tour title, made a valiant attempt to defend his title finishing with a 68, nine-under overall.

Collated final round scores and totals in the European Tour Joburg Open, Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC, South Africa

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):

269Anders Hansen (Den) 71 68 64 66

270Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 65 68 69 68

271David Drysdale 65 66 71 69

272Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 68 71 63 70, Danny Willett 67 66 71 68, Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa) 69 65 70 68

273David Dixon 68 69 68 68, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 69 68 66 70, Richard McEvoy 69 65 72 67

274Estanislao Goya (Arg) 70 69 69 66, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 71 66 67 70

275Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 69 69 66 71, Graham De laet (Can) 72 66 68 69, Taco Remkes (Ned) 67 70 69 69, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 67 70 69 69, James Kamte (Rsa) 69 69 66 71, Michael Hoey 64 68 72 71, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 71 66 70 68, Charl Coetzee (Rsa) 68 67 75 65

276Brett Liddle (Rsa) 67 70 69 70, Jean Hugo (Rsa) 67 72 67 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 65 69 70 72

277Oliver Bekker (Rsa) 67 65 73 72, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 67 73 71 66, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 68 65 74, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 69 69 67 72, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 72 64 70 71

278Brandon Pieters (Rsa) 68 71 70 69, Gary Lockerbie 69 68 72 69, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 69 67 71, Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 66 69 75 68, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 63 76 72 67, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 70 67 69 72, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 66 72 68 72

279Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 69 66 72 72, Alan McLean 71 65 71 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 66 72 72 69

280Chris Gane 70 70 71 69, Martin Wiegele (Aut) 68 72 72 68, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 74 65 70 71, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 69 69 71 71, James Morrison 67 68 74 71, Gary Clark 72 67 68 73, Dion Fourie (Rsa) 68 70 71 71, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 72 64 73 71

281John Mellor 72 67 70 72, Carl Suneson (Spa) 67 73 72 69, Andre Bossert (Swi) 70 69 74 68, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 73 65 75 68, Doug McGuigan 69 71 70 71, Cameron Johnston (Rsa) 72 66 73 70

282Hennie Otto (Rsa) 67 73 75 67, Antti Ahokas (Fin) 72 64 72 74, Tyrone Ferreira (Rsa) 68 72 70 72, Phillip Archer 69 70 73 70, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 68 70 73 71

283Michiel Bothma (Rsa) 70 70 69 74, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 67 71 74 71, Iain Pyman 71 69 69 74, Wallie Coetsee (Rsa) 72 64 76 71, Keith Horne (Rsa) 68 70 70 75, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spa) 65 71 73 74, Simon Griffiths 73 64 71 75, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 65 71 74 73

284Chris Wood 69 70 72 73, Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa) 70 70 73 71, Jake Roos (Rsa) 69 69 73 73, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 71 71 73, Tc Charamba (Zim) 70 67 77 70, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 65 78 70, Kevin Stone (Rsa) 69 70 71 74, Christopher Doak 68 70 74 72

285Bobby Lincoln (Rsa) 68 72 73 72

286Neil Cheetham 73 67 73 73, Kasper linnet Jorgensen (Den) 68 72 74 72, Michele Reale (Ita) 66 74 73 73

287David Carter 67 72 73 75

288Sam Little 72 68 74 74, Michael Curtis (Zim) 74 65 75 74

289John E Morgan 69 70 72 78

290Edrich Jansen (Rsa) 70 70 73 77

291Gregory Molteni (Ita) 73 65 77 76

292Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 68 72 79 73