Rod Pampling won the Australian Masters today whenn he edged out Marcus Fraser at the third play-off hole at Huntingdale Golf Club after the two Australians had finished tied at the top of the final round leaderboard locked at 12 under par.

Victorian Fraser carded a superb final round seven-under-par 65, which included just one bogey, but thenso too did Pampling - despite missing birdie chances at his last three holes which would have sealed the win without the play-off.

While Fraser, 30, sat on the practice range preparing for the play-off, Queensland's Pampling, 39, had three opportunities to claim the victory in regulation but, after first missing a distinct chance at 16, pushed a six-foot birdie putt at 17 wide right and then, at the last, missed out again, this with a tough 25-footer for the championship, the ball drifted left of the hole.

Both players missed long birdie chances on the first trip down the 18th, which saw just one birdie today in regulation.

Fraser found the rough off the tee and sand with his second on the return trip down the 18th while Pampling found the middle of the fairway but saw his approach failed to clear a bank at the front of the green and rolled back onto the fringes.

After Fraser chipped to the back of the green, Pampling put the pressure on his opponent when he got to within a foot, but Fraser converted from 10 feet to ensure a third play-off hole.

Fraser again missed the green into the 18th and after putting past the hole up a steep hill at the back of the green, missed a par putt and was forced to settle for a bogey to open the door for Pampling.

Pampling grabbed his chance with both hands, claimed his first Aussie green jacket with a simple three-foot par putt to claim his maiden European Tour triumph and his first Australasian Tour victory since the 1999 Canon Challenge.

Joint overnight leader Robert Allenby, a two-time Masters champion, was in contention heading into the final holes at 11 under, but was forced to rescue a double-bogey five at the 15th as he holed a 20-foot putt after chipping out of a greenside bunker and finished alone in third at nine under after a 73.

South Africa's Tim Clark (67), Australia's Nathan Green (70) and Sweden's Alexander Noren (68) finished tied for fourth at eight under.

Australia's David McKenzie (68) finished seventh at seven under, while joint overnight leader Michael Sim finished seven shots off the pace following a 77.

Collated final round scores & totals in the European Tour Australian Masters, Huntingdale GC, Melbourne, Australia

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

276 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 71 68 70 67 (Pampling won at the third play-off hole), Marcus Fraser (Aus) 73 67 71 65

279 Robert Allenby (Aus) 73 66 67 73

280 Nathan Green (Aus) 72 68 70 70, Alexander Noren (Swe) 73 71 68 68, Tim Clark (Rsa) 67 70 76 67

281 David McKenzie (Aus) 72 70 71 68

282 Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 74 71 70 67, Marc Leishman (Aus) 71 70 74 67, Anthony Summers (Aus) 70 68 71 73

283 Danny Lee (Nzl) 71 69 71 72, Michael Sim (Aus) 72 66 68 77, Steve Webster 71 68 70 74, Peter Senior (Aus) 70 72 70 71, Ashley Hall (Aus) 73 67 68 75, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 72 72 68 71

284 Aaron Townsend (Aus) 75 64 71 74, Craig Scott (Aus) 72 72 67 73, David Horsey 71 68 71 74, Jamie Donaldson 72 67 73 72, Andre Stolz (Aus) 73 70 71 70

285 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 70 72 72 71, Rob Harris 72 72 73 68, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 72 71 73 69

286 Scott Hend (Aus) 67 73 71 75, Mahal Pearce (Nzl) 75 70 74 67, Michael Wright (Aus) 69 70 72 75, Andrew Tschudin (Aus) 74 70 71 71, Daniel Wardrop 69 71 71 75, Brad Lamb (Aus) 73 72 68 73

287 Scott Laycock (Aus) 73 67 72 75, Johan Skold (Swe) 72 68 73 74, Ryan Haller (Aus) 76 69 72 70, Simon Griffiths 70 74 69 74, Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 70 73 73, Tony Carolan (Aus) 74 68 74 71, Marcus Higley 72 71 71 73, Phillip Archer 73 71 70 73

288 Steve Alker (Nzl) 75 68 70 75, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 72 70 71 75, Adam Crawford (Aus) 71 71 71 75, Peter Lonard (Aus) 72 71 71 74, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 77 68 70 73, Michael Long (Nzl) 72 71 72 73, Bradley Hughes (Aus) 72 71 74 71, Craig Spence (Aus) 72 72 72 72, Michael Curtain (Aus) 72 71 71 74

289 Antti Ahokas (Fin) 74 71 71 73, Steven Bowditch (Aus) 72 70 73 74, Oliver Fisher 72 73 75 69

290 James H McLean (USA) 75 69 72 74, Lee Slattery 78 67 72 73, Ewan Porter (Aus) 70 71 77 72, meron Percy (Aus) 74 71 72 73, Matthew Griffin (Aus) 74 71 73 72

291 Wilhelm Schauman (Swe) 76 69 73 73, Scott Draper (Rsa) 73 71 73 74, Steve Jones (USA) 74 70 75 72

292 Anthony Brown (Aus) 69 76 75 72, Martin Rominger (Swi) 76 68 72 76

293 Dale Marmion 76 69 71 77, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 74 70 71 78, James Morrison 73 69 74 77

294 Aaron Black (Aus) 70 74 73 77, Vernon Sexton-Finck (Aus) 70 74 74 76

295 Martin Wiegele (Aut) 73 71 74 77, Joel Sjoholm (Swe) 74 68 77 76, Scott Strange (Aus) 75 68 78 74

297 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 74 70 80 73

299 Tim Wise (Aus) 71 73 78 77