South African Darren Fichardt captured his maiden European Tour title with a five-stroke victory in the Sao Paulo Brazil Open.

Fichardt carded a closing 67 for an 18-under-par total of 195 in an event reduced to 54 holes after lightning delays over the first three days.

The 25-year-old from Pretoria collected a cheque for £78,242 and a valuable two-year exemption on the tour after missing out on his card at the qualifying school in November.

Argentina's Jose Coceres, Australian Brett Rumford and Sweden's Richard Johnson shared second on 13 under with South African Nic Henning and France's Raphael Jacquelin another shot back.

Anthony Wall was the leading Briton in seventh place after a superb last round of 64 with countrymen Matthew Blackey, Neil Cheetham and Simon Hurley in a tie for eighth on 10 under.

"It's definitely a breakthrough for me," said Fichardt who won the South African Tour Players' Championship last month by four shots despite a two-shot penalty in the final round.

"The win in South Africa was really big because people like Ernie Els and Mark McNulty were playing and it was a stepping stone but this is a major breakthrough."

Fichardt had not hit a shot since Friday morning when he completed his brilliant second round 61 with thunderstorms every afternoon forcing play to be abandoned early and eventually the event reduced to 54 holes.

And he credited his wife and caddy for helping him to remain calm, Natasha using her sports psychology studies to great effect.

"I was a bit nervous because I've never had a lead and had to wait two nights to go and play," Fichardt added. "I was a bit shaky but once I made the first birdie on the fifth I felt more relaxed."

That birdie cancelled out a bogey on the second that, coupled with a birdie from Rumford, had seen his three-stroke lead cut down to one but Fichardt responded superbly with four birdies in five holes from the fifth to maintain a comfortable lead.

Coceres reduced the gap to three with a birdie on the 12th but the Argentinian dropped back again with a bogey two holes later and Fichardt made absolutely certain by holing from 30 feet for birdie on the 16th.

The victory was also a deserved reward for Fichardt who admitted he did not feel like playing golf after the tragic death of his sister Debbie in a road accident just before the South African Open in January this year.

"After my sister passed away it was hard and I didn't feel like playing the summer tour," Fichardt added. "But my family encouraged me and I'm sure Debbie would be proud today."

Meanwhile, Rumford finished strongly with birdies at the last three holes to claim a share of second after a costly double bogey seven on the eighth.

"Those last three birdies were important," said the 23-year-old from Perth who was trying to match the wins of young countrymen Adam Scott and Aaron Baddeley.

"I got off to a bit of a scrappy start and when I doubled number eight by hitting my second shot out of bounds, that was my title charge over right there.

"After that it was just a matter of consolidating and re-focusing which is hard when your heart is set on winning. You have to realise that's it and have to consolidate a round that could get really ugly.

"I've done it the last few times and in the Ericsson Masters I was leading going into the final day and handed it on a silver platter to Colin Montgomerie. It's not a very nice feeling but it makes you stronger.

"But second is good. It's a case of keeping yourself up there and I guess the law of averages means it will be your turn sometime. You have to stay patient. It might take a year or whatever but you have to remain positive and focused."

Wall's 64 was the joint best round of the day and lifted him from a tie for 25th into outright seventh.

"The difference today was just holing the six-footers," the 25-year-old Londoner said. "I'd been playing well all week but not holing those putts.

"Also I was using a new Callaway ERC II driver after the face on my old one cracked in the cold on the driving range at home last week, and that's given me an extra 10 yards."

Collated scores and totals in final round of Sao Paulo Brazil Open, Sao Paulo Golf Club (Gbr & Irl unless stated, Par 71)

(Tournament reduced to 54 holes)

(x) denotes amateurs

195 D Fichardt (Rsa) 67 61 67 (£78,242)

200 R Johnson (Swe) 68 67 75, J Coceres (Arg) 68 64 68, B Rumford (Aus) 66 65 69 (£35,006 each)

201 R Jacquelin (Fra) 66 70 65, N Henning (Rsa) 70 64 67 (£18,167 each)

202 A Wall 71 67 64 (£14,083)

203 S Hurley 69 69 65, N Cheetham 69 67 67, M Blackey 67 68 68, C Hanell (Swe) 68 65 70 (£10,069 each)

204 R Byrd (USA) 68 69 67

205 D Lee 68 68 69, G Rojas (Arg) 67 68 70

206 T Munoz (Spa) 71 66 69, M Florioli (Ita) 69 68 69, T Gogele (Ger) 70 67 69, K Ferrie 70 67 69, P Walton 69 66 71

207 P Fowler (Aus) 70 70 67, W Bennett 70 68 69, B Teilleria (Fra) 70 68 69, C Rodiles (Spa) 69 71 67, E Pesenti (Bra) 71 69 67, D Borrego (Spa) 68 67 72, A Rocha (Bra) 74 69 64

208 A Romero (Col) 70 69 69, P Nyman (Swe) 65 73 70, T Levet (Fra) 67 71 70, J Berendt (Arg) 75 66 67

209 J Amaya (Col) 69 70 70, E Simsek (Ger) 67 71 71, O Karlsson (Swe) 70 71 68, M Roe 67 70 72, H Kuehne (USA) 67 69 73, J Skold (Swe) 70 65 74, A Beal 68 73 68, C Pottier (Fra) 72 71 66, C Petterson (Swe) 74 69 66

210 F Cea (Spa) 70 69 71, B Vaughan (Rsa) 72 67 71, A Armagost (USA) 69 71 70, C Ravetto (Fra) 69 69 72, J Aderbal (Bra) 67 71 72, J Haeggman (Swe) 70 70 70, H Stenson (Swe) 75 67 68

211 P Streeter 71 68 72, M Molina (Arg) 70 69 72, M Olander (Swe) 68 70 73, G Clark 69 71 71, A Raitt 73 67 71, S Scahill (Nzl) 73 68 70, S Sykora (USA) 73 69 69

212 H Lee (USA) 71 68 73, G Havret (Fra) 73 66 73, R Gonzalez (Arg) 70 67 75, R Barcellos (Bra) 75 65 72

213 H Bjornstad (Nor) 71 68 74, S Luna (Spa) 67 72 74, M Pendaries (Fra) 69 73 71, F Lubenau (Ger) 73 69 71, C Challen 69 74 70, P Eales 72 71 70, R Gonzalez (Bra) 71 72 70, S Fernandez (Arg) 72 71 70, M Santi (Ita) 73 70 70, S Drummond 70 73 70

214 M Bernardini (Ita) 68 70 76, M Jonzon (Swe) 68 69 77, S Khan 73 70 71, G Acosta (Arg) 70 73 71, V Phillips 75 68 71

215 P Dwyer 70 69 76, E Andersson (Bra) 69 73 73, J Robinson 72 71 72

216 H Otto (Rsa) 72 69 75

217 J Diniz (Bra) 73 70 74

218 S Brasil (Bra) 72 70 76, P Hanson (Swe) 72 71 75