England's David Horsey won the Hassan II Trophy in Agadir after Rhys Davies missed a glorious chance to retain the title. The Welshman had a four-foot putt to win the tournament but sent it two feet past the hole.
Horsey, who last year won the BMW International Open in Munich, took full advantage and prevailed at the second hole in a three-man playoff.
He and Davies started the day as joint leaders and Horsey got an early boost from a hole-in-one at the second. He picked up three shots over the first eight holes to go clear at the top of the leaderboard on 13 under par.
Davies dropped a shot on the second but birdies at the third and fifth kept him in touch, while George Coetzee of South Africa made a charge with four birdies in nine holes.
Horsey was pushed all the way and Davies produced four consecutive birdies at the start of the back nine, while South Africa’s Jaco van Zyl was also making steady progress.
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With one to play, Horsey was one ahead of the Welshman and two clear of Van Zyl, but he took five from the middle of the fairway and six in total. His double bogey gave Davies his chance, but what looked a simple putt went begging. Van Zyl joined the pair in the playoff with a par four as the top three finished 13 under.
With the pressure mounting, a birdie at the second extra hole gave 25-year-old Horsey his second European Tour title.
“I made hard work of that coming down the last,” said the Englishman. “I couldn’t believe Rhys missed that putt to win, to be honest. If we had been playing matchplay I would have given him that putt because he is one of the best putters in the world.
“So I was surprised to be in the playoff and then to win is a great feeling that hasn’t quite sunk in yet. It is not very often that you get off to a start like that on the last day of a tournament – especially when you are in a position to win. Obviously there is a certain amount of luck involved in a hole-in-one but it really set me up for the rest of the day.”
He added: “I expect to win every week. Every time I come out on tour, I come to win. It doesn’t always work out that way but you have to expect and believe you can win on any given week.
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“I probably wasn’t swinging the club as well as I could but I played well last week and knew that I had a good chance this week.”