It was third, then second, the first for Wynand Dingle on Saturday as he carded a closing six-under-par 66 at San Lameer Country Club to win his first Sunshine Tour title as he took the Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament there by one shot.

The 38-year-old Dingle has been a professional since 2008 without a win on the Sunshine Tour. He started turning that around this season, and he came third in July in the FNB eSwatini Nkonyeni tournament, second in the Vodacom Origins of Golf event at Highland Gate last month, before pulling off this richly deserved victory.

He finished on 16-under-par for the tournament, one shot ahead of Jaco Prinsloo, and, three strokes further back on 12-under-par, was Sean Bradley who finished third for the second tournament in succession. Rupert Kaminski finished fourth on 10-under-par, and Malcolm Mitchell and Luca Filippi shared fifth on nine-under-par.

Dingle started the day one shot behind the 36-hole leader, Danie van Niekerk, and he soon built up a good head of steam with birdies on one, four and five to get his nose in front. With Van Niekerk in unfamiliar territory at the top of the leaderboard, Dingle had to keep his eyes peeled for the challenge of the wily Jaco Prinsloo.

In the end, it was a duel down the stretch between Dingle and Prinsloo, with Bradley slipping out of contention when he made a triple-bogey six on the par-three 14^th.

Dingle kept himself well in it with birdies on eight and 10 following his only bogey of the day on the seventh. Prinsloo made a bid for the win with successive birdies on 13, 14 and 15, but Dingle kept pace with him with a vital birdie on the 15^th. And when Prinsloo was unable to birdie the par-five 17^th while Dingle did, all that remained was for Dingle to hold his nerve down the final hole.

Not only does the win bring him the satisfaction of knowing he can do it, but it also elevates him from 13^th to sixth on the Order of Merit. With a career-best finish on that list of 80^th back in 2014 – and 81^st last year, he’s a few more good performances away from the top five and better, and all the benefits that brings.