Justin Harding admitted to feeling the nerves in his 45 minute wait to see whether or not he would be involved in a playoff at the Qatar Masters.
He became the fifth South African winner of the event on Sunday after a stellar closing 66 and is likely to sit in 51st place when Monday’s Official World Golf Ranking is released.
Harding joined Darren Fichardt, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Branden Grace – who successfully defended the Mother of Pearl trophy in 2016.
‘It feels good,’ said Harding, who had two top fives and three further top 20s from eight events coming into this week.
‘It was nerve wracking, especially coming off, it’s a situation I haven’t really been in. I didn’t enjoy it but it’s good fun, I’m glad it happened and now we move on.
‘I get into the events that I’d like to be into again, the schedules change, I’m no longer having to pick and choose. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens going forward and playing in some bigger events.’
The victory is his fifth in nine months and four different countries worldwide for the 33-year-old after he claimed back-to-back Sunshine Tour wins in May and repeated the feat on the Asian Tour in July.
