Jbe Kruger survived a late stumble to win his first European Tour title in the Avantha Masters in New Delhi.
The 25-year-old South African was coasting towards the title when he overcooked his approach to the 17th and failed to get up and down, the resulting bogey his first for 46 holes.
A wayward drive on the last then struck a camera, and his second went left in to trees, but faced with a daunting third over the water Kruger displayed nerves of steel to stick his approach within ten feet of the cup.
He missed the resulting birdie putt, but par was good enough for a 14-under-par total and a two-shot win.
Spain’s Jorge Campillo shared second, after shooting a joint best-of-the-day 67, with German Marcel Siem.
Jose Manuel Lara and Australian Marcus Fraser shared fourth on 11 under, with Lara finding water on the final hole to sink his chances at the title.
“I’m very relieved to win for the first time,” said Kruger. “If you want to win you need to make putts on the final day and I did that today.
“It’s a big relief now that I’ve won but I think I needed all those second-placed finishes to be able to appreciate it. There was no pressure even when I made my only bogey of the day on the 17th.
“I felt that victory was inevitable when I got to the 14th hole. I knew that I had a good chance as I had a comfortable three-shot cushion then. I like to know what’s going on and I’m aware of the movements on the leaderboard.”
Richard Sterne shot a final-round 72 to share 23rd place on 4-under, while Peter Karmis missed the cut earlier in the week.
| Pos | Player | Round | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jbe Kruger | 69 | -14 |
| 2 | Jorge Campillo | 67 | -12 |
| Marcel Siem | 70 | -12 | |
| 4 | Marcus Fraser | 70 | -11 |
| Jose Manuel Lara | 70 | -11 | |
| 6 | Jean-Baptiste Gonnet | 72 | -10 |
| Tano Goya | 70 | -10 | |
| Prom Meesawat | 71 | -10 | |
| Thorbjorn Olesen | 70 | -10 | |
| 10 | Kiradech Aphibarnrat | 68 | -9 |
