Scotland´s Richie Ramsay held his nerve in a sudden-death play-off with Shiv Kapur from India to win the 99th South African Open Championship at Pearl Valley Golf Estates on Sunday.

On a day when any one of the top 12 players on the overnight leaderboard could have won the second oldest national Open in golf, it was the 2006 US Amateur champion who closed out his first European Tour title at the first play-off hole, becoming only the seventh foreigner and first Scotsman to win this title.

"It has been an unbelievable day," said a visibly emotional Ramsay. "I´m overwhelmed with emotion. This is a very big moment for me."

"This win...I can´t put a price on it. To see my name up there with all those great names, like Gary Player and Ernie Els – icons in the game...it´s a lot to take in. It´s a huge honour to win South Africa´s national Open and it will open a lot of doors for me."

Ramsay had made a strong start to the tournament with an opening 67, but a 75 in round two saw him fade from contention. He fought back with a third round 68 and began the final round three off the pace from overnight leader Pablo Martin on 11 under.

"I talk about the power of positive thinking," said Ramsay. "I didn´t think about a low round. The go pins, I went for them; just picked a shot and went for it. It was a day to play fearless golf."

Ramsay´s fearless approach delivered a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 to set the clubhouse target at 13-under-par 275 and tie Kapur, playing two matches behind. Kapur, with a single bogey on his card, failed to capitalize on a spectacular chip shot at the last when he missed an eight foot putt that would have given him the win.

In the play-off, both players missed the fairway with their drives. Kapur´s wayward tee shot lodged in some shrubs in a waste bunker left of the fairway and Ramsay found the rough just short of the right fairway bunker.

Ramsay hit a superb three wood from 260 yards to 15 feet, but Kapur barely managed to punch out into the rough. He did hit a solid third shot, but it fell just short of the green. Kapur´s bump and run also didn´t have the legs to reach the hole.

This left the way clear for Ramsay, who edged his first putt just short of the hole and had a formality tap-in to seal the victory.

"If you´ve got two putts to win, you take them," said Ramsay, who also predicts that Kapur will win soon on the European Tour. "He played some unbelievable golf there; a very steady golfer. He will become a very tough opponent in the next couple of years."

Dane Anders Hansen carded a 69 to finish third on 12 under, which was also enough to earn him the Sunshine Tour´s Order of Merit title.

Italian World Cup winner Edoardo Molinari and Fredrik Andersson Hed tied for fourth on 11 under with respective rounds of 71 and 70.

The smile stayed, but the magic disappeared for Spain´s Martin, who struggled to a one-over-par 73 and a tie for sixth on 10-under-par 278 with Darren Fichardt, the top performing South African on the day, who carded a 66.

Dylan Frittelli won the Freddie Tait Cup as the leading amateur in this year´s tournament, carding rounds of 69, 74, 72 and 73 to tie for 47th on even-par 289.