Tyrrell Hatton sealed his second European Tour victory in seven days with a brilliant birdie at the last to win the Italian Open at Golf Club Milano.
Last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship winner carded six birdies – including five on the back nine – in a flawless 65 on Sunday to win his first Rolex Series event and now moves to fifth position in the Race to Dubai rankings.
It had looked like the tournament would be decided by a play-off, with clubhouse leaders Ross Fisher and Kiradech Aphibarnrat alongside Hatton on 20 under par as he stood at the 18th tee, but the 26 year old, who celebrated his birthday on Saturday, calmly rolled in his birdie putt from 15 feet to get to 21 under and clinch the trophy.
Fisher, who was also pipped to the post by Hatton in Scotland last week, and Aphibarnrat had to settle for a share of second place, while England’s Matt Wallace finished in fourth on 19 under courtesy of a brilliant chip-in birdie at the 17th.
Race to Dubai leader Tommy Fleetwood extended his lead at the top of the rankings with a final round 67 to finish on 17 under alongside home favourite Francesco Molinari, George Coetzee and David Horsey.
Fleetwood’s closest rivals to be crowned Europe’s number one player for 2017 – Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia – finished tied 15th and tied 30th respectively.
Hatton said: “It’s an amazing feeling to win back-to-back. Both were achieved in slightly different circumstances. I’m not sure how far back I was going into the back nine today, but I knew I needed plenty of birdies and was very fortunate that I holed a few putts coming in.
“I knew I needed a low score today, and the front nine, it was pretty slow and sort of didn’t really get any momentum. I was fighting myself, trying to stay patient, and JB, my caddie, was saying, “Good things will come.” Although I found it hard to believe, I tried to stay patient and in the end, I guess I got my reward.
“To win a Rolex Series event is very special. They are new for this season, and all the players look forward to playing in them. I’m just happy that I could win one of them after a poor showing in them during the summer. These are massive events for the European Tour. They get such a good field and are so well supported – the crowds were amazing.”