Fichardt finishes in Qatar with a flourish

Darren Fichardt beat fellow South African James Kingston at the first hole of a sudden death play-off to win the Qatar Masters in Doha today.

The pair had tied on the 13 under par mark of 275 after Kingston failed with a 10-foot birdie putt on the long 18th and when they returned to the same hole he could only par again, whereas Fichardt was on in two and two-putted for birdie.

It was Fichardt’s second European tour win – although both have been far from Europe. The first came in Brazil two years ago.

Irish Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley, diagnosed with pneumonia on Monday, finished third on 11 under and a stroke further back in fourth was England’s David Howell.

It was a day Luton’s Phil Golding will remember – for the wrong reason. Golding, lying sixth at the time, was penalised four strokes for having an extra club in his bag.

The 40-year-old had thought of changing a two-iron to a four-iron overnight, but although he decided against it he had the club in his bag upside down and that was not within the rules.

He eventually finished joint 14th, but would have been in a tie for fifth without the mistake.

Collated final totals in the Qatar Masters at Doha GC, Qatar (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

275 Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 71 69 66 69, James Kingston (Rsa) 68 67 71 69 (Fichardt won at first hole of sudden death play-off. Fichardt wins £156,054, Kingston wins £104,032)

277 Paul McGinley 68 72 70 67 (£58,614)

278 David Howell 66 72 72 68 (£46,816)

281 Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 71 73 66, Peter Fowler (Aus) 71 67 71 72

282 David Park 70 71 71 70

283 Gary Evans 73 70 70 70, John Bickerton 73 70 68 72, Richard Green (Aus) 71 69 70 73

284 Gary Birch 70 74 71 69, Padraig Harrington 70 73 76 65, Roger Chapman 71 69 73 71

285 Greg Owen 72 71 73 69, Andrew Marshall 73 71 70 71, Marten Olander (Swe) 69 74 74 68, Philip Golding 68 74 72 71, Paul Broadhurst 69 73 70 73, Soren Hansen (Den) 71 69 74 71, David Dixon 70 68 73 74

286 Richard Sterne (Rsa) 70 74 72 70, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 69 73 71 73, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 70 68 75 73

287 Phillip Price 73 71 68 75, Julien Clement (Swi) 73 70 74 70, Raymond Russell 73 69 71 74, Mark Foster 72 70 74 71, Miles Tunnicliff 70 74 72 71, Nick Dougherty 73 71 71 72

288 Gregory Havret (Fra) 69 75 72 72, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 71 71 74 72, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 70 75 67 76, Kenneth Ferrie 71 70 75 72

289 Stuart Little 74 69 76 70, Damien McGrane 73 72 71 73, Kevin Na (S Kor) 73 72 76 68

290 Roger Wessels (Rsa) 71 74 72 73

291 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 74 69 75 73, Michael Archer 71 74 75 71, Fredrik Widmark (Swe) 72 73 73 73

292 Paul Dwyer 71 73 73 75, Ed Stedman (Aus) 70 75 73 74, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 73 72 75, Steven Bowditch (Aus) 70 70 74 78

293 Lee James 72 73 74 73

294 Sebastien Delagrange (Fra) 71 74 77 72, Massimo Florioli (Ita) 72 73 75 74

295 Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 71 73 80 71, Peter Lawrie 73 70 79 73, Malcolm Mackenzie 72 72 77 74, Barry Lane 72 73 79 71

296 Alvaro Salto (Spa) 73 72 78 73

297 Marc Farry (Fra) 69 75 75 78

307 Julien Van Hauwe (Fra) 71 74 80 82