Henrik Stenson sealed a second BMW International Open title in Germany yesterday, after recovering from a mid-round wobble to win by three shots.
The Swede went into the final round with a one-stroke lead from Dane Thorbjorn Olesen, and he finished strongly to reach 17 under par and hold off the chasing pack.
It is a 10th European Tour title for a player who is regarded by many peers and pundits as one of the best to have never won a major crown, and a first since his second World Tour Championship win two seasons ago in Dubai.
“It was hairy all the way, it was a tough one,” Stenson, who also won the 2006 edition of this event, said.
“I had to dig deep to come back. I didn’t play well on the front nine, made a couple of mistakes.
“I felt like I was starting to make a bit of a mess of it and then I came back and made the birdies on the par fives.
“I really feel like I played well in 2015 and I just couldn’t get a trophy. It was a bit hard at times but you’ve just got to keep on trying and put yourself in position. I did that once again and this time I managed to go all the way.”
When Stenson birdied the opening hole a runaway victory looked likely in Pulheim, but the world number seven stuttered around the turn with three bogeys in five holes from the sixth.
That allowed South African Darren Fichardt to draw level at the top of the leaderboard, but a bogey on the final hole gave the world number 348 a clubhouse leading mark of only 14 under par after a fourth-round 69.
For most of the day Olesen looked the most likely to hang onto Stenson’s coat tails, but the talented 26-year-old made too many mistakes in a one-over-par round of 73 to finish in a tie for second with Fichardt.
The 40-year-old Stenson took advantage with three birdies in five holes to card a 71, as he closed out the title for the first time in his last three attempts after following up a playoff defeat in this tournament in 2014 with another runner-up effort last year.
Sergio Garcia, another player known as one of golf’s perennial ‘nearly-men’, soared into contention as an eagle on the par-five 13th hole dragged him to within two shots of the lead.
But in trademark fashion, the unpredictable Spaniard double-bogeyed the next hole and ended up in a tie for fifth place.
Defending champion Pablo Larrazabal could not quite launch a bid to become the first player to win the tournament three times and had to settle for tied-ninth.

Final round scores
271: Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 68-65-67-71
274: Darren Fichardt (South Africa) 68-69-68-69, Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 67-67-67-73
277: Raphael Jacquelin (France) 65-68-72-72
278: Sergio Garcia (Spain) 71-68-70-69, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand) 69-64-74-71
279: David Horsey (Britain) 73-70-66-70, Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) 68-70-70-71
280: Michael Lorenzo-Vera (France) 69-69-67-75, Robert Dinwiddie (Britain) 69-73-69-69, Graeme Storm (Britain) 69-70-71-70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 68-69-72-71
281: Matteo Manassero (Italy) 72-67-73-69, Paul Dunne (Ireland) 69-71-70-71, Lee Slattery (Britain) 74-68-71-68