Johannesburg: Argentina's Ariel Canate won the first European Tour title of his career with a two-stroke victory in the inaugural Joburg Open at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington club on Sunday.

The little 31-year-old - he stands only 1.7m in his socks and weighs just 67kg - closed with a 67 on the club's tough par-71 East course for a 19-under-par total of 266.

South Africa's Andrew McLardy finished second on 268 following a 68 with compatriot Hennie Otto third on 269, also after a 67.

Two other South Africans, Alex Haindl and Mark Murless, tied for fourth on 272 followed by Edward Rush of England and Adilson da Silva on Brazil on 273.

For Canate this win dramatically changes the path of his career as he has spent nearly 12 years as a professional flitting between the European Tour, the Challenge Tour and the Asian Tour in between occasional visits to South Africa and the United States mini-tours.

Before this event he only had conditional playing privileges for the 2007 European Tour, but this win brings with it a two-year exemption effective from 2008 so in effect he has a full card until the end of 2009.

And he is also 160 000 euros richer which is what first place is worth here.

"The putter did it for me today, everything was in, in, in," said Canete who hails from a little town called Santa Teresita which is a three-hour drive from Buenos Aires.

"There was basically nothing much to do at home so when I was about 12 I took up golf because we had a nine-hole course and my father played," said the Argentinian who as an amateur won the South America Cup three times.

Canete had to return to the course at 6.45am this morning along with 35 other golfers to complete his third round as four hours were lost on Saturday through bad weather.

Before the siren sounded on Saturday he had split the fairway with his drive at the par-4 10th hole. Sunday he returned to the course and played the back nine in three under par to sign for a six-under-par 65.

His final round 67 included five birdies and a bogey. McLardy came to the par-5 closing hole Sunday effectively needing a birdie to tie Canate, but hooked his drive into the trees and could only scramble a par from there.

"I guess I was over-stretching myself a bit," said the South African. "It's very much a birdie hole because you can get to the green with two big shots. I hit driver off the tee and tried to hit it too hard, with the result that I snap-hooked it into the trees. That was a mistake and hopefully I'll learn from it."

Italy's Edoardo Molinari, the 2005 US Amateur champion who only got into this tournament on a sponsors' exemption, closed with 70 to tie for eighth on 274 with South Africa's Doug McGuigan and Terry Pilkadaris of Australia's whose closing 67 included an eagle-two at the par-4 ninth where he holed his pitching wedge approach.

The 83 golfers who made the 36-hole cut played one round on the par-72 West course and three on the East course.

The European Tour now moves to the Middle East for three tournaments in a row, starting with this week's Abu Dhabi Championship, followed by the Qatar Masters and the Dubai Desert Classic where Tiger Woods beat Ernie Els in a play-off last year.