Lindani Ndwandwe won his second Sunshine Tour title on Sunday when he defeated Alex Haindl on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff at the R500,000 Highveld Classic at Witbank Golf Club.

The pair finished tied on 19-under-par 197 for the 54-hole tournament, and then Ndwandwe birdied the 18th as Haindl managed just a par.

The victory came in the 2002 Western Cape Classic, so it was a seven year wait for the lanky Durban Country Club professional.

“Ironically, winning seems to put more pressure on me,” he said, “because now I feel as if I have to go out and do it again.”

It was a close-run thing for Ndwande: After making just one bogey in his opening two rounds on his way to 16-under ahead of the final round, he dropped two shots in his final nine to let the hard-charging Haindl get into the playoff.

He made a five on the 407-metre 12th, and then a four on the 194-metre 16th.

“I hit it under the trees on 12,” he said, “and made a bad chip, and on 16 I got a bad bounce, a good chip and I couldn’t make the putt.”

Haindl, in the meantime, made only his second bogey of the tournament on the 15th, where he made a five on the 353-metre par-four hole.

So it was down to the 18th: “Alex is such a good putter, and he had a 15-footer to win,” said Ndwandwe. “I thought he’d box it and it was all over, but he missed it.”

So they went down the 18th again, and Ndwandwe found himself with 126 metres to the pin, but under some trees: “I had a tough shot in, but I left myself 30-40 feet for the putt,” he said.

Haindl had a similar putt, and he was unable to sink it after Ndwandwe sank his most important putt of the weekend.

He and Haindl also had to weather a charge from Doug McGuigan, whose eight-under 64 was the best score of the final round.

He started very fast with three consecutive birdies, but he was unable to find any more after he made nine and one bogey through the 14th. Pars all the way home left him one shot out of the playoff in third.

Alan McLean also finished fast, his seven-under listing him to 17-under and fourth.

Brandon Pieters, a three-time winner on this year’s tour, finished fifth on 15-under after his closing 66.