THE PUTTER once again proved to be David Higgins' Achilles heel as he carded a final round 76 for a 72 hole total of 290 and a tie for 19th place in the South African Masters at San Lameer Country Club yesterday.

The 23 year old from Waterville had been well placed at the halfway stage after opening rounds of 68 and 72, but he was disappointed to finish the weekend with over par returns of 74 and 76.

The event was won by South Africa's Wayne Westner who secured his first title since the 1993 Dubai Desert Classic. Westner won by three shots after returning a closing 73 for 280 eight under par for the tournament.

The expected challenge from the experienced Mark McNulty failed to materialise as the Zimbabwean struggled with some unfortunate fairway lies. His final round of 76 pushed him back into joint seventh place on 285.

Yet Higgins can still reflect on some solid iron play and some accurate driving to take with him to the Wild Coast Classic which starts on Thursday only a few miles southwards down the Indian Ocean coastline.

"My putting was definitely the weak part of my game today. I hit the ball solidly on both nines, but I just couldn't make any putts," he said afterwards.

Cork's John McHenry, after an excellent opening 67 which equalled the San Lameer course record, dropped back to tie for 44th place on 297. He struggled over the last three rounds with scores of 76, 76 and 78 and was exasperated that, when he did hit a bad shot, it was generally a dreadful shot.