Steven O'Hara angry after missing play-off as Louis Oosthuizen lifts Africa Open title

The South African holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to beat lanky Englishman Chris Wood and Spaniard Manuel Quiros, clinching his first success since he claimed the Claret Jug in sensational style at St Andrews last July.

The trio had finished on 16-under 276, one ahead of a group of three players, including O'Hara after the Motherwell man had charged up the leaderboard with the joint-best score of the final day - a seven-under 66. The 30-year-old started the day in a tie for 17th but produced a flawless performance, picking up two birdies in the first three holes and then reeling off another five in seven holes around the turn.

The former Scottish amateur champion set the clubhouse target but Wood beat that soon afterwards before Quiros and, finally, Oosthuizen did likewise.

"It's a very positive start to the season. In the first two rounds I was a wee bit rusty and dropped a few daft shots. But yesterday and today I played very solid," said O'Hara, who picked up a cheque for almost 35,000 to put himself in 15th position in the early Race to Dubai standings.

"I worked hard over the winter, especially on my putting, and it's good to see a result from that. I was very close to getting into the play-off which is very encouraging. I let a couple of putts go coming down the stretch after looking at the leaderboard on 16. It was the worst thing I could have done. I tried not to look but saw it out of the corner of my eye and saw I was up the top. I had been attacking everything up to that point then backed off a wee bit.

"That was daft and I am angry with myself for doing that. But other than that I enjoyed it and it was good to get a wee bit sun on my back."

O'Hara, who just held on to his card after finishing 113th on the money-list at the end of last year, added: "I am playing next week in the Joburg Open and I will go into it with a bit of confidence. Hopefully, I can stop the bad mistakes that were caused by rustiness. My putting was good which is good. I was close to my first win. I have got to keep giving myself chances and at least I did that."

Oosthuizen eagled the par-5 15th as he closed with a 70, earning a 132,989 pay-day on his debut in the co-sanctioned event. "The whole day was a bit of a struggle," said the world No 21. "I didn't get anything in the hole and made that putt on 15 which helped. Then I made this one (in the play-off) which was nice. I hit a terrible tee shot and then hit a full sand-wedge to get close. Then I made the putt, it was great."Elliot Saltman, seventh at the halfway staged, ended up in a tie for 23rd - a promising performance in his second event since earning a spot on the European Tour - on 283 after he signed off with a 72. Alastair Forsyth closed with a 71 for 289, Lloyd Saltman had a 75 for 291 and Marc Warren returned a 74 for 292.