Anders Hansen of Denmark birdied the final hole to finish at 15-under-par 269 and walked away with the R2.25-million (€174,350) winner's cheque at the third Joburg Open played at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club.

He sealed the deal with an impressive five-under-par 66, holding off the challenge of Andrew McLardy whose second place was his second in the three years of the tournament.

A bogey on the 12th was hardly noticed as the Danish player made six birdies, four consecutively from the sixth hole to turn on 31, and brought the curtain down with his final one on the 18th.

“I played really nice on the front side there hitting a lot of good shots so that was very good,” he said.

Hansen had a 20-footer for eagle on 18 which would have put unbearable pressure on McLardy, but he left it three feet short. He rammed it home, went to 15-under and set the target for McLardy (68).

McLardy had sniffed a victory and turned up the heat on the back nine, stringing together a sequence of three birdies through 10, 11 and 12 to creep up onto the pacesetter.

On the 13th, he curled a delightful approach round the trees in exactly the way he told journalists he liked to do, landing the ball just 12 feet from the pin. Although he left his birdie attempt just inches short, it was the kind of putt that had “winner” written all over it.

But it was not to be: Six consecutive pars, five of which could have been converted to birdies left him frustratingly shot.

With the big crowd on the stands at the 18th willing him on, McLardy had a 25-foot putt to get into a playoff, but fell two feet short.

Retief Goosen, who started the final round just one off the pace, endured a horrible day: His card was littered with nine bogeys, six of which came on the homeward nine as he crashed out of contention.

But he entertained the crowd with a 228-metre albatross on the 18th. It brought the curtain down on a miserable round of three-over-par 74.

Behind the duel between Hansen and McLardy, Scotsman David Drysdale quietly shot a two-under 69 to ease himself into third, ahead of the young Danny Willett of England.

With Willett sharing fourth were third-round leader Charl Schwartzel and fellow-South African Tyrone van Aswegen.

Schwartzel had a frustrating final round, shooting 70, but spending most of his time trying to bail himself out of bad spots or making up for his four bogeys.

Back in a share of 12th was defending champion Richard Sterne, whose week was hampered by far too many bogeys, and his final blitz of five in eight holes in his final round was counterbalanced by two more bogeys.