Sheffield's Malcolm Mackenzie won his first European Tour title at the 509th attempt to wipe out his bank overdraft in considerable style.

Mackenzie, in his 20th consecutive full season on tour, carded a final round 72 for a 14-under-par total and one-shot victory over South African Trevor Immelman in a nerve-wracking climax to the Novotel Perrier French Open.

But the 40-year-old needed to birdie the last to secure victory after dropping shots at the previous three holes and looking like blowing a three-shot lead over the closing stretch.

The first prize of £205,795 was almost seven times Mackenzie's previous biggest cheque on tour, dwarfing the £30,071 he earned for finishing fifth behind Nick Faldo in the Open championship at Muirfield in 1992.

And it will make his wife Natalie and their bank manager very happy indeed, erasing at a stroke the overdraft they had at the start of the week.

"It feels wonderful," said Mackenzie, who almost pulled out of the event on Tuesday when his daughter Cora was taken into hospital for two nights suffering from dehydration after picking up a bug on the family's return from holiday in Florida.

"It's taken 20 years to get here and I'm very, very happy. I'm delighted for my family who have supported me through thick and thin, all my supporters, and I can say I have done it at last.

"I was struggling financially and was overdrawn at the bank before this week. I was confident I could get out of trouble but never dreamed of this. It's worth all the 20 years of hard work.

"The bank manager will be very happy and so will my wife, she has wanted an extension for years and now it looks like she'll get one."

Mackenzie began the day with a one-shot lead but that was instantly wiped out as he bogeyed the first two holes to fall one shot behind playing partner and defending champion Jose Maria Olazabal.

It looked as if the magnitude of the occasion had taken its toll, but the 40-year-old dug deep and stopped the rot with birdies at the third and fifth to get back into a share of the lead with Anders Hansen, who had birdied the fifth and ninth.

A birdie of his own at the ninth then took Mackenzie back into the outright lead and when he birdied the 14th after Hansen bogeyed the same hole minutes earlier, he had a three-shot lead with only four holes to play.

There was still time for plenty more drama to unfold however as Mackenzie's approach to the 15th found the water surrounding the green and he did well to hole a six foot putt for bogey.

Three putts added up to another bogey on the 16th and a poor second to the 17th made it three dropped shots in a row, and left him tied with Immelman - who had birdied the 17th - standing on the 18th tee.

"I thought I was going to mess up the last hole to be honest," added Mackenzie, whose eldest son George celebrated his sixth birthday on Sunday.

"I thought I was losing it altogether. I did not get the start I wanted and it could have been worse because I had to get up and down for bogey on the first and second.

"So I told myself not to get too disheartened and my caddy Rod Wooller kept me going, but then at the 15th it all fell apart and I lost it a bit there."

Up ahead however, Immelman's birdie putt on the 18th shaved the edge of the hole and left Mackenzie needing a par for a play-off or a birdie to win.

"We weren't sure what we needed but presumed Trevor had made par because we didn't hear any big cheer. We discussed the shot and I have Rod to thank because he said to go for it.

"I said 'are we a man or a mouse?' and we weren't squeaking today. I let loose and smashed the best two-iron I have ever hit to 15 feet."

Two putts from there was enough to secure an emotional and hugely popular win, while Ryder Cup vice-captain Ian Woosnam eagled the last to claim a share of third place alongside Hansen and Ashington's Kenneth Ferrie.

Immelman, touted as the next star of South African golf after Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, had holed from 12 feet for a birdie on the 17th but was unable to repeat the trick on the last.

"To be honest I didn't think I had a chance to win until I birdied the 17th and heard he bogeyed the 16th," said the 22-year-old from Cape Town.

"Then I had a great chance and hit a great tee shot but just pulled my second shot. When you finish second you always say 'I could have, or should have' but it's been a great week and proves to myself that I belong out here and can win tournaments.

"I'm looking forward to the next few weeks. I can't wait to get to places like The Belfry and Wentworth, those are places I have dreamed of playing ever since I grew up. Now I can go into those with some confidence."

Collated scores and totals after final round of the Novotel Perrier Open de France, Le Golf National, Paris (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72)

(x) denotes amateurs

274 Malcolm Mackenzie 68 69 65 72 (£205,794)

275 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 68 64 71 72 (137,196)

276 Kenneth Ferrie 68 72 67 69, Ian Woosnam 69 71 66 70, Anders Hansen (Den) 69 70 65 72 (63,797each)

277 Andrew Coltart 71 66 71 69, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 70 66 71 70, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa) 69 67 67 74 (37,043 each)

280 Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 67 69 69 75, Gary Evans 71 67 67 75

281 Mark Davis 69 70 72 70, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 76 66 69 70, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 71 71 67 72, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 71 68 69 73

282 Thomas Levet (Fra) 72 70 70 70, Soren Hansen (Den) 69 72 70 71, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 69 70 71, Marten Olander (Swe) 67 71 72 72, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 71 70 72

283 Stuart Little 74 69 72 68, Christopher Hanell (Swe) 75 69 71 68, Gary Orr 72 69 68 74

284 Mark James 72 68 73 71, Stephen Gallacher 68 75 70 71, David Drysdale 77 64 70 73, Colin Montgomerie 67 72 71 74, Nick Dougherty 71 70 69 74

285 Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 75 65 73 72, Markus Brier (Aut) 70 72 71 72, Daren Lee 73 69 69 74, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 68 70 77

286 Henrik Bjornstad (Nor) 70 72 75 69, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 70 70 74 72, Jamie Donaldson 69 70 74 73, Erol Simsek (Ger) 75 66 71 74, Alexandre Balicki (Fra) 77 65 70 74, Roger Chapman 72 68 71 75, Mark Mouland 72 68 71 75, Santiago Luna (Spa) 69 71 71 75

287 Christophe Pottier (Fra) 74 70 71 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 73 70 73, Richard Green (Aus) 68 73 72 74, Barry Lane 69 74 70 74, David Carter 72 71 69 75, Jonathan Lomas 71 69 71 76, Paul Eales 70 72 68 77

288 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 70 73 76 69, Simon Dyson 73 69 74 72, David Gilford 72 71 72 73, David Lynn 71 70 72 75

289 Richard S Johnson (Swe) 73 69 72 75, Mark Pilkington 69 71 73 76, John Bickerton 69 71 70 79, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 72 65 70 82

290 Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 73 68 76 73, Gary Emerson 72 71 74 73, Benoit Teilleria (Fra) 74 70 73 73, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 71 75 74, Sebastien Delagrange (Fra) 70 73 73 74, Alastarit Forsyth 69 74 72 75, Bertrand Cornut (Fra) 74 70 71 75, Ian Poulter 71 73 68 78

291 Raymond Russell 71 72 75 73, Costantino Rocca (Ita) 73 69 73 76

292 Matthew Cort 72 69 74 77

293 Stephen Dodd 71 72 77 73, Didier De Vooght (Bel) 73 68 76 76, Philip Golding 72 72 73 76, Gary Clark 72 69 75 77

294 Magnus Persson Atlevi (Swe) 70 74 73 77

295 Peter O'Malley (Aus) 72 71 75 77, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 70 70 76 79, Tom Gillis (USA) 71 71 74 79

297 Jeremy Robinson 74 70 77 76, Desvonde Botes (Fra) 71 71 76 79

300 Anthony Wall 72 72 77 79

302 Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 70 72 77 83