Scandinavian Masters: Nick Faldo's long-time caddie, Fanny Sunesson, knows a champion when she sees one. And after her first tournament with Mark Hensby she knows she has a champion.

The 34-year-old Australian conjured a birdie-birdie finish in the Scandinavian Masters at Kungsängen yesterday to match Henrik Stenson's 65 and tie the Swede on 262, 22 under par, then won the play-off at the second extra hole for a €266,660 prize.

Hensby might not yet have come close to matching Faldo's majors bag of three British Opens and three US Masters, but the Melbourne man's two best performances this summer were an impressive third in the US Open and fifth in the Masters.

"I first saw Fanny at Augusta a couple of years ago and was so impressed with how hard she worked," he said.

"We met up again in Korea this season when she was working for Nick, and she agreed to take my bag this week - she's got so much experience and picked up on my personality straight away."

Sunesson, or course, is Swedish, but she had no mixed allegiances.

"As we were walking back for the play-off she said to me, "We're either going to make a lot of Swedes happy or I'm going to be the only happy Swede in the place.

"When you know you've got a putt for a play-off you've kind of got a free shot and I hit a great putt, but you need a bit of luck for it to go in," added Hensby. "I played with Henrik for the first three days and I knew what a great player he was, so I knew I needed something special."

Stenson's outward nine, three-under, put him on top of the leaderboard. Then his eagle on 17, and a stunning bunker save to inches on the last, set up his chance of a third European Tour title and bettering his tied second place last year.

But when he hit his approach putt at the second play-off hole six feet past and missed the one back he was runner-up for a second year.

"Obviously it was his day and not mine," said Stenson.

Hensby is the first sponsor's invitee to win on the European Tour since his compatriot Adam Scott took the Scottish PGA title three years ago. He will now join the Tour officially.

Scott, the 2003 Scandinavian champion, had to settle for joint fifth, six strokes behind, and the British challenge of the joint overnight leaders Bradley Dredge and Barry Lane faded.

Dredge, who led after three rounds the week before in Hamburg only to slip to fifth with a closing 73, ended three behind after a 70 in joint third place with Marc Cayeux.

The English-born Zimbabwean positively sprinted to his best Tour finish with a last nine of 28 bursting with seven birdies for a 65 to more than double his season's winnings with a €90,000 prize. He will send a slice of it home to his mother and father, out of work in Harare.

Lane, whose victory in the 2004 British Masters was his first for 10 years on tour, never recovered from a double-bogey sixth at the 10th, reachable from the tee after being shortened by 172 yards because of pre-tournament flooding.

He drove into a bunker, shanked his recovery into a lake, then fluffed a chip, ultimately finishing joint seventh with a 74 for 269.

Stenson looked a sure winner after downing a 25-footer to eagle the 71st and jump two strokes clear. But Hensby coaxed his own 25-footer in at the last to tie, then triumphed when Stenson bogeyed in the play-off.

Damien McGrane began the final round in a tie for fifth, but a bogey at the first hinted at a difficult day and he eventually signed for a one-over-par 72 and slipped to 11th place. He earned €25,000.

Peter Lawrie had a much better day, collecting six birdies in a 67 that moved him to tied 25th. That was worth €16,000.