JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Richard Sterne made a birdie on the second hole of a three-man playoff to win the Joburg Open on Sunday. The tournament was co-sanctioned by the European Tour and southern Africa's Sunshine Tour.
The South African shot the lowest round of the day with a 6-under 65 at the 6,940-yard Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club. That tied him at 13-under 271 with Magnus Carlsson of Sweden and Garth Mulroy of South Africa who each shot 66.
Four shots off the leader Mark Murless of South Africa going into the round, Sterne reached the playoff with birdies on 17 and 18. Murless fell back with a 73.
Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke also finished strongly with a 3-under-par 68 to reach 11 under for the championship and secure a fourth-place finish, while defending champion Ariel Canete of Argentina had a 67 for a share of fifth place.
All three players birdied the first playoff hole, but world No. 44 Sterne then repeated the feat on the par-4 17th while compatriot Mulroy and Swede Carlsson could only manage pars.
Sterne's victory was his third European Tour title following wins at the 2004 Madrid Open and the 2007 Wales Open at Celtic Manor.
"It was actually quite enjoyable, to be honest," said Sterne. "After the start I was quite far back and I knew I needed to get to 13 or 14 under."
"I got close when I hit a couple great shots into the last," he added. "I thought 13 under was a good number and then I got close -- I got 13 under in the end."
Sterne was the highest-ranked player in the field, but he admitted he needed to play well to recover and win the top prize.
"It was a tough day," he said. "Any time you're favourite to win or anything like that, I think it's a little bit more pressure. I didn't get off to a good start at all. I think I was 3 over at some stage, but I came back strong and that's what it's about."
Fellow South African Murless led through the opening three rounds but faded badly as his 2-over-par final round of 73 saw him slip back to finish fifth with an overall aggregate of 275.
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