Kingston celebrates his first victory on the European Tour

A poor start to the final round cost England's Oliver Wilson dear as James Kingston pipped him to the South African Open title by one shot.

Wilson led the home player by one shot overnight but dropped strokes on the first, sixth and ninth holes saw him shoot a 73, a three-under total of 285.

Kingston held his nerve to card a 71 to finish on four-under.

Darren Clarke, who has plummeted more than 200 places in 2007, carded a fine 69 to finish one-under, joint third.

The 39-year-old Ulsterman will take great heart from his overall performance and particularly his final round, which was probably the pick of the day at a wet Pearl Valley Golf Estates.

You dream about winning your national open and now it's come to fruition and I can't put it into words how I feel James Kingston

But the plaudits went to Kingston who, after play was suspended for nearly four hours due to persistent rain, displayed excellent composure to claim his first European Tour title in his 19th year as a professional.

The 42-year-old was paired with Wilson on the final day and the Englishman, bidding for his first professional title, got off to the worst possible start with a bogey on the par-four first.

Two further bogeys on the front nine all but sealed his fate and, despite birdies on the 10th and 11th, it was too late to repair the damage.

Kingston was unable to break free as he found the water on the par-three fourth for a double bogey and also dropped a shot on the ninth.

But his triumph was completed with a two-putt par on the par-five 18th as darkness settled over the Cape Winelands course.

"This means so much to me," said Kingston who had won nine times on the less lucrative Sunshine Tour in South Africa and five times on the Asian Tour.

"You dream about winning your national open and now it's come to fruition and I can't put it into words how I feel."

"To win this - my own national open against a world-class field - is massive.

"I know I've had my chances over the years to win at this level but it's never happened until now. You can't put a price on what this means to me.

Clarke shared third place with Welshman Kyron Sullivan, South Africa's Garth Mulroy and Louis Oosthuizen.