Britain's Richie Ramsay won the South African Open after defeating Indian Shiv Kapur in a sudden-death playoff at Pearl Valley Golf Estates Sunday. The 2006 US Amateur champion's first European Tour win came after he and Kapur were tied at 13-under-par at the end of regulation play. The playoff on the 18th hole was a short-lived affair. Kapur pulled his tee shot left into shrubbery while Scotland's Ramsay kept his ball out of trouble just off the right edge of the fairway. Ramsay hit his second to around 12 feet of the pin and two-putted for a birdie and the title. The 26-year-old had started the day five off the lead at six-under-par but the limited progress of the leaders and his bogey-free 65 meant his early clubhouse mark of 13-under was competitive. “There's no greater feeling than winning and I'm just a flood of emotions, I'm holding back the tears,” Ramsay told reporters. Kapur made a great start after beginning the day three off the lead. He picked up five birdies in the first nine holes before a three-putt at the 11th briefly set him back. But a birdie at the par-five 13th took him back to 13 under. Denmark's Anders Hansen finished third for the second successive week on the European Tour, one stroke shy of Kapur and Ramsay. However, his effort was enough to ensure Hansen the South African Sunshine Tour Order of Merit title for 2009. Overnight leader Pablo Martin, who won last weekend's Alfred Dunhill Championship, struggled with his putter and finished tied for sixth on 10
