A year after being denied the chance to win the Qatar Masters in dramatic circumstances, Sergio Garcia finally got his hands on the trophy.
The Spaniard defeated Finland’s Mikko Ilonen on the third hole of a suddendeath play-off to make up for missing out 12 months ago when England’s Chris Wood made an eagle on the 72nd hole to beat Garcia and George Coetzee by a shot.
A flawless closing 65 meant Garcia set the clubhouse target of 16-under-par 272 but the 33-year-old crucially missed from 8ft for a birdie on the last and then looked on as Ilonen birdied the 16th and 18th to complete a 66 and force the extra holes.
The players returned to the 18th for the play-off and both found the green on the par-5 in two, Ilonen missing his eagle attempt from 25ft before Garcia did likewise from half the distance.
A second visit to the 18th failed to establish a winner, Ilonen missing an eagle attempt from 25ft after Garcia had got up and down from a greenside bunker.
However, the third extra hole proved decisive as Ilonen found the same bunker and was unable to rescue a birdie, leaving Garcia a tap-in to secure an 11th European Tour title after his long eagle putt had narrowly missed.
Thorbjorn Olesen had a great chance to join the play-off but missed from 12ft for an eagle on the 18th.
The Dane shared third place with joint overnight leader Rafael Cabrera-Bello. Cabrera-Bello also needed an eagle on the 72nd hole to catch Garcia and Ilonen, but saw his chip from over the green pull up three feet short of the hole.
“It feels good,” said Garcia, who will move from 11th to inside the world’s top 10 when the rankings are updated today.
“It’s funny because I started the day thinking if I could shoot six or seven under maybe I could have a chance and it turns out I had a very similar putt that I had last year to get it to 17 under on 18. I hit a good putt and unfortunately it didn’t break.
“The up-and-down from the bunker in the play-off was key and I’m very happy to be able to win it.”
Asked about the pressure of contesting his seventh European Tour play-off, having won two and lost four, Garcia added: “I almost feel less pressure because I feel like I’ve had a great week already.”
Garcia had not finished outside the top 25 on his previous seven visits to Qatar and added: “I have always said it’s a golf course that I enjoy and I am very pleased to finally be able to get my hands on the trophy. I’ve been coming here for eight years and have been close to winning before.”
Ilonen had looked like missing out on his first European Tour play-off when he hit a poor bunker shot on the last hole of regulation and, although he holed from 20ft for birdie on that occasion, a similar effort from the same hazard on the third play- off hole proved decisive.
“I was expecting one of us would need to make an eagle to win it,” the former British Amateur champion said.
“I hit two poor bunker shots out of the same front right-hand trap, one in regulation and one in the play-off, and I’m not going to blame anything else.
“I came up two short of my target in regulation. I thought 64 would do it outright and Sergio was a bit better than me this time.
“I needed a strong start and I got it being four under through eight and I backed it up with a good end to the round with three birdies in the last five. I played good golf.”
Aberdeen’s Paul Lawrie failed to mount a final-day challenge, his final round of 70 securing a tied 11th finish on 276, while his fellow Press and Journal columnist Stephen Gallacher finished in a share of 28th place on eight-under 280.