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Michael Hoey signed for a final round 68 on Sunday at Centurion to finish with a share of second place at the Tshwane Open in South Africa. An early eagle on the par five fourth helped Joey moved to within touching distance, along with a birdie from 30 feet at the 11th.
However a double bogey at the twelfth then undid that strong rally.
In the end Ross Fisher won the Tshwane Open at Centurion by three shots after a two-under-par final round 70.
Fisher started the day with a five-shot lead and although that was whittled away to just one after 11 holes. But he held his nerve to win by three from Hoey and South African Danie Van Tonder.
Fisher, whose last European Tour victory came at the 2010 Irish Open, sealed the win with an eagle three on 15 after Hoey had got to within a shot just after the turn.
It gave him a four-shot cushion at Copperleaf, the longest European circuit layout.
The 33-year-old Fisher had not won on the European Tour since the 2010 Irish Open in Killarney and, after tumbling out of the world's top 50 during his title drought, has now thrust himself into contention for the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles later this year.
Hoey moved to within touching distance with a birdie from 30 feet at the 11th, but a double bogey at the next stalled his progress.
Fisher's work was not done, however, as Van Tonder and Del Moral then made their moves and set up a potentially nervous finale, after the Englishman had dominated for the entire weekend at the 7,964-yard, Ernie Els-designed course.
Whittled down
As he stepped up to the 15th tee, Fisher's lead had been whittled down to two strokes by both Van Tonder and Del Moral.
Fisher had picked up just a single stroke for the round up until that point, but saved his best for when it counted as he reached the 15th green in two before holing a 30-foot eagle putt.
Careful pars at 16 and 17 ensured Fisher was able to walk up the 18th with victory assured and, while he finished with a bogey, a long-overdue win was secured for a player who has been as high as 17th in the world.
Victory leaves Fisher sitting 16th in the Ryder Cup standings and is set to lift him up to 52nd in the world rankings.
"I'm thrilled to get over the line," Fisher said. "It was a testing day with the weather conditions and playing with Mike he put up a great challenge for me.
"I set a target of trying to go out there and shoot in the 60s and almost managed to do it. I had a little mishap on the last but I'm just glad to be standing here talking to you as champion."
Fisher admitted his eagle on the 15th had helped to settle any potential nerves.
"It's been pretty good to me this week (the 15th hole)," he added. "There have been a couple of eagles, but that was a big putt there.
Coast in
"I know I was only a couple ahead. To hit a nice shot there and have a good look at three and to see it drop - I think I went four shots clear with only three to play I knew I could coast in.
"There was a little wobble on a few of those holes and I managed to make a couple of good par-saves of 16 and 17.
"It would have been nice to shoot 69 but unfortunately I missed one on the last. I'm not going to complain."
His long putt on 15 typified a good week with the shortest stick and, after struggling on the greens in the past - Fisher welcomed the change.
"That's been an Achilles for many, many years," he said. "For some reason this week I saw the lines in the greens and felt really comfortable on the greens all week.
I'd love to know how much footage I holed this week because it was quite a lot."
Kevin Phelan, the European Tour Rookie, finished T6 and collects a cheque for€44,750 for his efforts this week with a final round of 70.
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