Darren Fichardt was delighted on Friday after winning the Vodacom Origins of Golf event at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club in Port Edward.

“That’s the biggest margin I have ever overcome to win a tournament,” Fichardt said after securing his 11th victory on the Sunshine Tour.

  In second place was David Hewan on five under par for the tournament, with five players on three under, including the 36-hole leader Jean Hugo.

  Fichardt’s bogey-free 64 included a homeward nine of five-under-par 30, which featured an eagle three on the 441-metre 12th, and three birdies — a stark contrast to the way Hugo fared on the back nine.

  Hugo turned in three-under-par 32 with a five-stroke advantage, but he bogeyed the 10th, the 14th and the 15th, before landing himself in deep trouble on the 16th as he made double-bogey seven.

  He hit his tee shot into a lateral water hazard, but was able to play it out sideways. His third went straight into the water, and his chances of a third victory in the series sank with his ball.

  “When I reached the turn, Jean had already reached eight under par, but I looked at the leaderboard and I was 17th,” Fichardt said.

  “So I thought I’d give it a good go and see if I could get into the top 10.”

   He did more than that, making a return to the winner’s circle for the first time since February 2010.

  “I’ve been hitting the ball well since my return from my shoulder injury,” he said.

  “I have made a few little swing changes to get rid of bad habits I’d developed with the injuries, and, when I changed to a mallet-type putter, things started going well.”

  Fichardt was also helped by the wind which gathered strength all day and exacerbated the errors that Hugo began to make.

  Further down the field, Grant Veenstra made a charge at the lead with his opening nine, carding his first 29 in tournament play.

  But a bogey on 12 and a double-bogey on 18 saw him slip to two under par for the tournament and a share of fourth.

  Colin Nel, who brought up the rear of the field after a final round of five-over-par 75, also got a career first when he aced the 156-metre eighth with an eight-iron. He won a luxury pen for his efforts.