The laconic 44-year-old South Australian struck a career payday, winning the $1.5 million event at Natadola Bay on Sunday, just a week after chucking in part-time pro-shop work and the meagre money which came with it at The Grange Golf Club.

And it came almost a decade after he crashed from a bicycle at Coolum during the Australian PGA, pushing his nose so far back into his skull doctors warned if it had been a centimetre further he would have died.

"The only people that think about [the health problems] is probably you guys," the world No.1238 said. "I've never played as well since that time, but mentally it has helped me.

"I remember it and it makes me think how lucky I am to be here. I have a lot of trouble with my jaw and I've got no teeth left. I've got five fake teeth in here, I smashed them right out of [my] mouth and I broke my jaw in 14 places. I'm just happy to be here and get through it."

The second of Norris' health turns in Queensland came when he contracted viral meningitis during a 2013 tournament.

Yet it was just a footnote to a life-changing win on the Vijay Singh-designed layout, Norris (-14) firing a nerveless final-day five-under 67 to win by four shots from Thai sensation Jazz Janewattananond, 50-year-old David McKenzie and James Marchesani.

The win grants him full-time status on the lucrative European and Asian tours, forcing him to ponder whether to play in Denmark or Darwin next week having overcome the self-confessed putting "yips" which had him practising after dark at his hotel's mini golf course on tournament eve.

"It's been 21 years of misery to get here," Norris joked. "What a miracle, I don't know what to say.

"I think earned $8800 working all of last year [at The Grange] and I felt like I worked a lot. That's one shot for us in one tournament.

"A couple of years ago [I was going to quit], then four years ago, then eight years ago, then 10 years ago. I was definitely going to give it away a few years ago when I thought I was going to lose my [Australasian] card but somehow I got second spot on [the] secondary tour in Australia. It kept me going.

"For some reason I just felt good today ... I felt like a champion if that's right. I felt I was in a good spot and didn't get flustered at all.

"As for working on a permanent basis I told my boss [at The Grange] I've probably got two years left playing golf and I'm going to have a crack. The result has come a bit quicker than I thought."

Norris' last significant win came in the 2010 Victorian Open, but it paled in comparison to the $237,500 cheque he took home from Fiji against a field which included past US Masters champions Singh, Mike Weir and Angel Cabrera.

Overnight leader Wade Ormsby (-9) scuffled to a final-round one-over 73, forcing him into a tie for fifth.

Janewattananond, the former teen wunderkid who became the youngest golfer to make the cut at an Asian Tour event when just 14 years old, blazed a course-record eight-under 64 to finish in a tie for second.

"I really enjoyed playing pro events at that age [13] - everyone seemed to be fascinated - and now when I make money I support my sister [Jenny] who is in medical school," Janewattananond said. "She's just in first year and she needs a lot of money now."

US Champions Tour hopeful McKenzie was forced to take a one-shot penalty on the 16th after mistakenly thinking he could take relief for his second shot, a mistake which ultimately cost him outright second.

Fiji International (Australian unless stated)

-14: Jason Norris

-10: Jazz Janewattananond (Tha), David McKenzie, James Marchesani

-9: Adam Bland, Daniel Pearce (NZ), Peter Wilson, Wade Ormsby

-8: Jarryd Felton, Gareth Paddison (NZ), Scott Vincent (Zim)

???Adam Pengilly is covering the Fiji International as a guest of PGA of Australia.