Darren Fichardt, persuaded by his wife to compete in the Qatar Masters in Doha, was glad he did after winning the title and £156,054 first prize.

Fichardt beat fellow South African James Kingston at the first hole of a sudden death play-off after they had tied on the 13 under par mark of 275, two ahead of Irish Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley.

The 27-year-old from Pretoria was thinking of joining the 50 players who pulled out as war with Iraq looms, but wife Natasha, a trained psychologist who acts as his mental coach, told him: "Don't be lazy and don't be a wimp."

After a gruelling 30-hole final day - Thursday's play was hit by a sandstorm - Fichardt said: "We didn't know quite what was going on here and were quite iffy about it, but I'm really happy we came now."

Kingston was favourite entering the closing stretch, but failed to pick up a shot at either the driveable 306-yard 16th or downwind par five last after Fichardt, playing three groups ahead of him, had set the target with birdies at both.

When they returned to the same hole Kingston found sand with his second and could only par again, whereas Fichardt birdied it for the second time in the space of an hour, just carrying the water and two-putting from 45 feet.

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

His most worrying moment came as he approached the 14th green and suddenly saw three names at 11 under rather than the two he expected.

"But as I got closer I realised that the third name was mine as well except for the first letter. I was up there twice."

Luton's Phil Golding will not forget the day in a hurry, although he will wish he could. Golding, the man who has made a record 16 trips to the tour qualifying school, was lying joint sixth when he was penalised four strokes for having an extra club in his bag on resuming his third round at 6.30am.

It was the same blunder that Ian Woosnam discovered when leading The Open two years ago, but the difference this time was that Golding knew he had the 15th club.

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.

As he had played the ninth and 10th holes - and birdied them both - he was penalised two strokes at each hole. He eventually finished joint 14th, but would have been in a tie for fifth without the mistake.

"I've been up at 4.30am the last four mornings and I think I was brain dead," said Golding. "I just seem to kick myself in the foot.

"When I was told it was four shots I was gob-smacked. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I just didn't think it through."

McGinley started the week with pneumonia and thought that the old adage "beware the sick golfer" would come true again.

He commented: "I felt it was destiny for me to win this week, but it wasn't to be.

"The last four holes of the third round this morning were where I lost it. I played them in one over and it left me too much to do.

"Four behind is too much - you've either got to be lucky or magnificent to win from there in the last round. That's the quality of the guys now. They don't come back to you, you've got to out-run them."

The event completed 72 holes only after the controversial decision after the delayed second round to cut to the top 50 players and ties rather than the leading 70 and ties.

It cost 35 players their place in the £936,000 tournament - and many were furious as they packed their bags a day earlier than they had expected.

Woosnam, former winners Tony Johnstone and Rolf Muntz and Volvo PGA champion Anders Hansen were among those affected.

The anger was that, while tour regulations state it can happen any week, they expected to be alerted to the possibility.

Muntz said: "It's an absolute disgrace. I don't think we mind it happening as long as we know while we are playing that it could happen. It's all about communication.

"You can sense the frustration of players over this. It just takes the oomph out of our work. You're not the only one in control of your finances - other people are as well.

"I know there are sponsors to think of and other considerations, but I think the main responsibility should be to the players. It's just a pity - look at the faces, look at the atmosphere here."

He was speaking outside the tournament office as third round tee-off times were handed out - without the 35 names on it.

Australian Jarrod Moseley stated: "It's disgraceful. Just tell us there is a possibility.

"The guys who were on two over playing the last (a par five) could have played the hole differently if they knew they might need to get to one over to make it through.

"Put the notice on the scorecard. It's just basic thinking."

Simon Wakefield, a 28-year-old from Newcastle-under-Lyme in his first full season on the circuit, said: "It just defeats the purpose of playing. It's absolutely scandalous - they're messing with our livelihood.

"If I get to the end of the year and I'm £1,000 short of keeping my card I'm not going to be happy. I stood on the last three over and thought I had only to make a par.

"There's no point competing in the tournament if they are going to do this."

Acting tournament director David Williams, a former tour player, said: "It was the only way to get the 72 holes in. With rounds taking 5 1/2 hours we simply could not have done it with 89 players.

"We always have the option to cut to 50 in extenuating circumstances and this is one of those cases because of the long delay we had on Thursday.

"I know it's horrible for the guys and nobody feels more sorry for them than I do - I've been there. There's no question about that and I know they're angry."

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 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