Byeong Hun An beat fellow South Korean Tom Kim in a play-off at the Genesis Championship to secure his first win on the European circuit for almost 10 years.
Birdies were dropping in from the start by the contenders as six players held the lead in some capacity at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club on Sunday.
The carousel at the top of leaderboard was in full flow until Kim jumped one shot clear heading down the last when An lipped out for bogey at the penultimate hole.
Both landed their approach to eight feet for birdie putts, with An applying the pressure by draining his effort to move back alongside Kim at 17 under.
Kim needed to sink his to claim the one-shot victory, but he lipped out and the two home favourites were forced into a play-off.
Both played risky second shots when replaying the par-five last, but Kim was left in a precarious position which resulted in him shooting into the main stand with his third and carding a bogey.
An had two putts for the title on home soil and only needed one to seal his first victory on the DP World Tour since lifting the 2015 BMW PGA Championship.
OVERDUE SUCCESS
A said: “It’s been too long since my last win on this tour. Tom and I had so much support out there this week and it although it was a shame that someone had to lose, I’m glad it’s me here holding the trophy in front of my home fans.
“Tom and I had a great battle today. I just got a little bit lucky to come out on top.”
Ricardo Gouveia, who began the week in 154th place on the Race to Dubai Rankings, recorded his first top 20 finish of the campaign with a brilliant third at 16 under to earn his playing rights for next season.
Antoine Rozner was one shot further back, Guido Migliozzi carded the lowest final round of the day with a flawless 65 to sit at 14 under, while Francesco Laporta, first round leader Ivan Cantero and South African Casey Jarvis were two more adrift.
Cantero was another who started the tournament below the cut-off line at 117th, but kept his head above water by taking the first round lead in Asia. The Spaniard maintained his fantastic start by carding four consecutive under par rounds as he come home in a tie for sixth and climb into the top 100 in the Race to Dubai Rankings.
PENGE RETAINS CARD
Marco Penge endured a roller coaster of emotions throughout the week, which started when he needed to birdie the last on Friday to make the cutline. He duly obliged to boost his chances – he began the week in the ominous position of 115th – before a flawless 67 in the final round saw him finish in a tie for 22nd place and secure his card.
“It’s probably the most nervous I’ve ever been,” Penge admitted when talking about the putt that got him into the weekend. “I was so relieved,” he said. “My body was shaking, I felt really emotional.”
He added: It’s probably the best I’ve played all year. “To play the way I did under the pressure I was under, I’m pretty speechless right now and just over the moon that it is done.”
Those finishing just outside the cut off point of 114th in the Race to Dubai included China’s Ashun Wu, Spaniard Santiago Tarri0, Scotland’s David Law and England’s Eddie Pepperell.
Pepperell, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour fired a closing 68 to finish in a tie for 34th, but the 33-year-old likely needed a top-15 finish in Korea in order to secure his card for next season.
Pepperell, along with several other well-known names, now faces a trip to Spain next week for Qualifying School, where he will hope to repeat what he did in 2016 by coming through the six-round Final Stage.
“I am not at all daunted by the prospect,” he said. “In fact, I am quite looking forward to it to be honest with you and having that mindset will help. I am quietly optimistic about it.”
SOREN EYES UP SENIOR PRIZES
Søren Kjeldsen closed out his final full season on Europe’s top tier circuit with a round 71 to sit at seven under for the tournament as the 49-year-old Dane begins the transition to playing seniors golf on both the Legends Tour and PGA Tour Champions next year.
More than a quarter of a century on from his debut on the European Tour in 1998, he maintained his playing rights for a remarkable 26 consecutive seasons and won four times.
Earlier this season that he became just the fourth player to make 700 or more appearances, emulating David Howell, Miguel Angel Jiménez and Sam Torrance. On Sunday, he finished what was his 712th start, with only Howell (725) and Angel Jiménez (723) having played more.