Darren Fichardt sunk a 15-foot birdie putt on Sunday to win the Nashua Masters by a single shot with a final-round five-under 65 and a total of 17-under 263.

"It felt like a 20-metre putt," he said after an 18-hole battle with defending champion Marc Cayeux of Zimbabwe, who shot a 67.

Fichardt, who came close to winning at the Africa Open two weeks ago, and was blown away by four great rounds by Deane Pappas at last week's Dimension Data Pro-Am, wrapped up his first victory since the 2006 Highveld Classic.

"The short stick finally started working," he said, after complaining all week long that he couldn't sink a putt, or get a run of birdies going.

"I actually started losing my putting stroke three years ago, and the rest of my swing went with it," he said. "But I made some changes, took a bit more time over my putts, drew a line on the ball to line it up properly, and it's slowly been coming back."

The battle to the wire with Cayeux made the win more satisfying for Fichardt: "I thought I had it won when he got a double bogey on 14 and I opened up a two-shot lead, but then he went and birdied 15 and 16," he said.

Fichardt also birdied 16 to stay a shot ahead, and after pars for both of them on 17, it was all down to the 18th.

Fichardt's approach spun back to within 15 feet, and Cayeux's looked to have overshot the green. But he had placed even more spin on it than Fichardt had, and he was left with two feet for a birdie which would have forced a playoff had Fichardt missed his putt.

"It was downhill, and looked as if it was going to swing quite a lot," recalled Fichardt, but his aim four balls right of the hole was true and the ball went in cleanly for the victory.

The pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with only Branden Grace making a concerted charge at the lead with his eight-under 62.

However, he started too far back from four-under, and finished at 12-under 268 in a tie for third with Tyrone van Aswegen and Jaco van Zyl.

Fichardt's win bumped him up to sixth on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit behind Joburg Open winner Anders Hansen of Denmark who leads.

Sapa

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