Golf: Jbe Kruger claimed a maiden European Tour victory at the Avantha Masters in New Delhi on a day that saw Scotland's Peter Whiteford disqualified late in the third round for moving his ball.
Whiteford, one off the lead at the start of the day, was removed from contention after television replays of his third shot to the 18th showed that his ball rolled a fraction before he played to the green. Because he signed his card it meant disqualification.
Officials reviewed the matter as the 31-year-old from Kirkcaldy, who led after the first and second days, began the final round and he was given the bad news just after bogeying the short third.
It was a happier day for South African Kruger, whose final-round 69 was enough to finish 14 under and a two-stroke victory.
He almost lost his nerve at the end despite carrying a three-shot lead to the 17th tee. A bogey on that hole followed by a loose drive on the 18th gave him cause for concern but he rescued par to take the title.
Spain's Jorge Campillo signed for 67 - the joint best of the day - to finish tied for second with Germany's Marcel Siem.
Marcus Fraser, of Austria, and Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara finished three off the lead.
Reflecting on the decision to disqualify Whiteford, European Tour chief referee John Paramor said: "Peter felt his ball may have moved and for confirmation asked his caddie, a fellow competitor and a TV cameraman, who said they didn't think it had, and so he continued on to finish the hole.
"Overnight several viewers contacted the Tour website. This was reviewed by the Rules Committee, who were able to determine that the ball had in fact moved. He should have incurred a penalty of one stroke and replaced the ball.
"As he did not do so, he was disqualified for signing for a score lower than taken for failing to include the penalty he had incurred.
"If he had contacted a member of the Rules Team before signing his scorecard, the footage would have been reviewed at the time and he would have averted the disqualification penalty."
Whiteford said: "I should have reviewed it. You can see it when you look at tv. John spoke to me before I went out, so to be honest my head wasn't in it from the first tee.
"I'm not cheating obviously. It's one of those things, but disappointing."
Collated final round scores & totals in the European Tour Avantha Masters, DLF Golf and Country Club, New Delhi, India (Gbr unless stated, Irish in bold, par 72):
274Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 70 69 66 69
276Marcel Siem (Ger) 69 69 68 70, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 72 71 66 67
277Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 74 69 64 70, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 69 69 70
278Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 68 69 69 72, Prom Meesawat (Tha) 72 64 71 71, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 71 67 70 70, Tano Goya (Arg) 74 70 64 70
279Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 68 69 74 68, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 66 73 69 71, Ricardo Santos (Por) 73 69 69 68, Rhys Davies 70 69 69 71
280Andrea Pavan (Ita) 69 71 67 73, Paul McGinley 70 69 68 73,Gregory Havret (Fra) 68 70 71 71
281Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 73 68 69 71, Mohd. Siddikur (Ban) 71 73 69 68, Joost Luiten (Ned) 70 69 70 72, Julien Quesne (Fra) 72 71 68 70, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 75 69 68 69
283Shamim Khan (Ind) 70 68 74 71
284Marcus Both (Aus) 70 70 70 74, Zaw Moe (Kor) 73 71 68 72, Romain Wattel (Fra) 71 73 73 67, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 70 67 71 76, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 69 69 72 74, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 71 70 71 72
285Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 73 71 70 71, Marc Warren 72 67 68 78, Soren Hansen (Den) 70 68 71 76, Gareth Maybin 72 69 71 73,Vijay Kumar (Ind) 72 69 71 73, Mithun Perera (Aus) 70 72 69 74
286Jamie Moul 71 68 73 74, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 71 70 71 74, Scott Barr (Aus) 70 69 75 72, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 72 72 66 76, Berry Henson (USA) 70 70 74 72, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 72 67 76 71
287Scott Hend (Aus) 74 69 71 73, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 72 69 72 74, Richard McEvoy 71 72 73 71, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 71 70 70 76, Gaurav pratap Singh (Ind) 72 72 74 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 68 70 73 76, Oscar Floren (Swe) 69 75 71 72
288Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 69 72 75 72, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 72 68 72 76, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 71 72 75 70
289Jamie Donaldson 68 70 73 78, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 75 69 72 73
290Joel Sjoholm (Swe) 73 70 74 73
291David Horsey 71 72 76 72, Manav Jaini (Ind) 73 70 75 73, Himmat Singh Rai (Ind) 68 72 79 72
292Peter Uihlein (USA) 69 73 73 77, Mars Pucay (Phi) 74 70 73 75, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 70 74 74 74
293George Murray 70 74 73 76, Scott Jamieson 69 72 77 75
294Sanjay Kumar (Ind) 73 70 78 73, Kieran Pratt (Aus) 71 66 75 82, Mukesh Kumar (Ind) 71 72 75 76
296Vivek Bhandari (Ind) 69 72 75 80, Ross Bain 74 70 76 76
DQ: Peter Whiteford 66 68 72
