It came down to the wire, but the closely fought Nashua Golf Challenge has a new champion in Keith Horne, who held his nerve to seal his third Sunshine Tour title in a sudden-death play-off.

It was a little more work than he wanted, but Horne was delighted to lift the trophy in the bright sunshine which beat down on the Gary Player Country Club.

"It was a tough day. I thought I was still three behind because there were no leaderboards," said Horne, who splits his time between the Sunshine, European and Asian Tour's. "I only realised I was in contention when Nic (Henning) told me walking down the 17th fairway."

His third career victory follows just seven months since his triumph at the MTC Namibia PGA Championship.

In the thrilling finale, overnight leader Desvonde Botes squandered his five shot lead, opening the floodgates to a wave of challengers.

Approaching the back nine, Henning stayed in the title race with a birdie and bogey apiece while 36-year old Horne had rallied with two birdies and a bogey on the front nine to enter the title fight.

"I tried to stay positive going to the back," said Horne, who gathered his third birdie at the 14th and drew level with the leaders. "I said to my caddie ‘we can still do this'."

Botes saw his bid for his 15th Sunshine Tour title end with a bogey at the 16th and limped home for a miserable 78 to tie for third with Trevor Fisher Jnr and Jean Hugo. Both players carded 71s.

Horne and Henning, however, tidied up with pars with Horne pulling out all the stops for a regulation five at the last hole to force the play-off.

"I blocked my tee shot right and it ricochet off a tree even further right," explained Horne. "I had no shot and the best I could do was to get myself out of the trees. I hit it quite hard and it hit a tree and finished a lot closer to the fairway."

Horne hit a cracking 4-iron in and flew the water, mostly to his own surprise.

"I've been in that water hazard more times than I care to remember. One foot shorter and it would have gotten very wet."

Horne signed for a 70 and Henning for a 72 to tie at six-under-par 210 at the end of regulation play, giving Horne another chance to play the 18th in a blow-by-blow fight to end in extra time.

In the ensuing play-off, both players birdied the 18th the first time around, but Horne hit a perfect tee shot to split the fairway while Henning' s drive went off course, forcing him to chip out from the left hand rough.

"I striped a rescue into the green — the same shot I've tried in three Dimension Data Pro-Ams and could never pull off. I thought it was make or break at that point and decided not to lay it up and went for it."

Horne lodged his first putt close to the hole and so did Henning, but it was one stroke too many for the tough campaigner, who was involved in a serious car accident just four days ago.

"It was a great feeling when that last putt dropped. This has been the toughest victory of my three wins. It felt like I was swimming against the current all day and Nic is a tough competitor. It's a nice feeling to walk away from it all with this accomplishment," said Horne.

Sapa