Midlander Steve Webster feels an overdue first tournament win is just around the corner after being narrowly beaten to the South African Open title by Tim Clark in Durban.

Webster fired a brilliant final-round 64 - equalling the lowest of the week - at Durban Country Club, only to find local favourite Clark in inspired form.

The 26-year-old South African carded eight birdies in a closing 65 for a 19-under-par total and two-shot victory, forcing Webster to settle for his fourth second place in six years on tour.

England's Jonathan Lomas and South African James Kingston shared third place three shots further back, with Wales' David Park, Scot Alastair Forsyth, Yorkshire's Simon Dyson and European number one Retief Goosen another shot adrift.

"Going round, I thought 17-under would be good enough," said Webster, 26, who rose to prominence in the 1995 Open at St Andrews, where he beat Gordon Sherry and one Tiger Woods to the silver medal as leading amateur.

"I fancied myself to do well, if not win, one of these first two weeks because I always play well in South Africa.

"I came close and gave it a good shot. Every time I got close I looked up on the board and he'd birdied again so every credit to him."

Webster, who lost in a play-off to Goosen in the Madrid Open last year, added: "I feel the first win is just around the corner. I thought Goosen was the main challenger, but if I got off to a good start, you never know.

"I couldn't do anything else really."

Clark, who will be playing the USPGA Tour this year on a medical exemption after a wrist injury limited him to just three events in 2001, began the final round two shots clear of Lomas and playing partner Goosen, the US Open champion expected to pose the biggest threat.

It was Webster who made the early move however, holing from 15 feet for an eagle on the third, but Clark always looked in control with birdies on the second, third, seventh and eighth.

Another on the 10th stretched his lead to three shots, but Webster then picked up his fifth birdie of the day on the 13th seconds before Clark dropped his only shot of the day by three-putting the 11th.

The gap was down to one, but that was the closest Webster got as Clark responded with birdies on the next, 14th and 15th to effectively seal victory and the £79,250 first prize and two-year exemption.

Clark, who felt he had a point to prove after being refused an invite to the £500,000 event and being forced to qualify, said: "It's probably best if I don't make too many comments about that.

"I just wanted to show that perhaps I deserved a spot in the tournament and I guess from now on I won't have to worry about that. It was a good source of motivation.

"It was disappointing to feel I might not have been in the field when I knew I could do well here he won the Natal Juniors on the course three years running and I had to put that out of my mind for the qualifying.

"Winning means a lot to me, especially to have my parents here. They don't get to see me play much and there were a lot of emotions coming up the 18th.

"There were a lot of friends here as well and I managed to hold it together."

Meanwhile, Park was also celebrating an excellent start to his season after the shock of being forced to return to the qualifying school last year.

Park made an instant impact on joining the tour in 1999, winning the Compaq European Grand Prix at Slaley Hall in only his second tournament, seven days after losing out in a six-hole play-off to Spain's Miguel Angel Martin on his debut in Morocco.

The former Walker Cup player went on to finish 40th on the Order of Merit that season, but after finishing 68th in 2000, struggled to rediscover that kind of form and had to return to the qualifying school in November.

"The start I had to my career it was a bit of a shock to me," the 27-year-old said.

"I just did not play enough last year, the last two or three years I did not improve as much as I should have. I was standing still while everyone else was going forward."

Park, who also struggled with a back injury last year, added: "I planned on starting in Australia, but finishing 14th at the school was not going to get me into Perth, and maybe not Melbourne either, so I had to get some starts under my belt.

"I didn't come here with any expectations and today was just the same, see what happens. I felt as though I was playing nicely, not ripping it, but I've been putting nicely all week."

Collated scores and totals in final round of Bell's South African Open, Durban Country Club, South Africa (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

(x) denotes amateurs

269 T Clark (Rsa) 66 70 68 65 (£79,250)

271 S Webster 68 70 69 74 (£57,500)

275 J Kingston (Rsa) 66 67 74 68, J Lomas 68 67 71 69 (£29,550 each)

276 D Park 71 68 73 64, S Dyson 67 73 69 67, A Forsyth 66 71 70 69, R Goosen (Rsa) 67 70 69 70 (£16,175 each)

277 D McGuigan 71 69 71 66, M Maritz (Rsa) 72 64 72 69, R Wessels (Rsa) 68 71 68 70

278 J Hugo (Rsa) 68 71 68 71

279 D Van Staden (Rsa) 71 70 69 69, E Els (Rsa) 73 69 68 69

280 D Terblanche (Rsa) 66 74 74 66, (x) C Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 67 73 69, A Cruse (Rsa) 71 68 71 70, A Butterfield 66 69 74 71, J Donaldson 69 73 66 72

281 A McLardy (Rsa) 75 67 72 67, G Muller (Rsa) 72 66 75 68, A Roestoff (Rsa) 66 71 73 71, P Golding 70 71 69 71, M Cayeux (Zim) 67 75 68 71

282 M Kirk (Rsa) 69 69 76 68

283 M McNulty (Zim) 73 71 73 66, P Lawrie 68 70 76 69, M Mouland 70 71 73 69, A Atwal (Ind) 70 67 76 70, C Cevaer (Fra) 69 70 73 71, M Mackenzie 71 69 72 71, J Robinson 71 70 71 71

284 R Claydon 73 70 73 68, N Vanhootegem (Bel) 72 72 72 68, D Gammon (Rsa) 73 70 72 69, M Gortana (Rsa) 73 67 74 70, C Pettersson (Swe) 64 77 73 70, W Bennett 70 74 68 72

285 A Marshall 71 71 75 68, J Spence 71 69 74 71, A Johl (Ind) 72 71 71 71, JM Singh (Ind) 69 69 74 73, N Dougherty 69 71 72 73

286 C Williams 72 71 74 69, A Wall 73 70 72 71, G Levenson (Rsa) 75 69 71 71, T Van der Walt (Rsa) 70 73 69 74

287 D Botes (Rsa) 68 70 79 70, H Buhrmann (Rsa) 69 74 73 71

288 M Persson (Swe) 73 70 74 71, M Hilton 70 74 73 71

289 (x) M Hoey 72 72 76 69, D Fichardt (Rsa) 69 71 79 70, A Pitts (USA) 71 72 75 71, M Lundberg (Swe) 76 68 71 74

290 M Archer 68 75 79 68, H Walters (Rsa) 73 71 74 72, S Hurd 70 70 77 73, B Davison (Rsa) 71 71 73 75

291 K Horne (Rsa) 74 70 75 72, S Van der Merwe (Rsa) 70 72 76 73, D Gilford 72 71 75 73, T Dodds (Nam) 73 71 73 74, S Pappas (Rsa) 75 65 76 75, M Olander (Swe) 70 73 73 75

292 S Dodd 73 71 74 74

293 S Lilly 73 71 78 71, S Van Vuren (Rsa) 70 74 75 74

294 D Crawford 71 73 79 71, S Khan 74 70 74 76

296 D De Vooght (Bel) 71 71 77 77

299 M Green (Rsa) 73 69 75 82

Withdrawn: MA Martin (Spa)