Alex Noren birdied two of his last three holes at Le Golf National to claim his second Rolex Series title on a dramatic final afternoon at the HNA Open de France.
The Swede entered round four seven shots off the lead and still did not look a likely winner when he turned in 35 as the final groups battled it out atop the leaderboard.
He birdied the 12th, 16th and 17th to set the target at seven under but was still behind on-course leader Julian Suri as he signed for his closing 67.
The American put his second on the 18th in the water to surrender a double-bogey and with England’s Chris Wood bogeying the 15th and 17th, Noren was the last man standing in Paris.
Suri and Wood finished a shot off the lead alongside Scot Russell Knox – who had earlier signed for a 65 – with Knox, Suri and Swede Marcus Kinhult earning a spot at the Open Championship later this month.
Kinhult had entered the day with a two-shot lead but he signed for a closing 76 to finish at five under alongside World No 5 Jon Rahm and England’s Matthew Southgate.
World No 2 Justin Thomas, Swede Alexander Bjork and Spanish duo Jorge Campillo and Sergio Garcia finished three shots off the lead.
Noren’s last win came in similar fashion at the 2017 BMW Championship – the inaugural Rolex Series event – when he posted a stunning 62 on Sunday from seven back and was left to wait and see if he had done enough at Wentworth Club.
‘When you’re out there you really want this win and it felt unbelievable to get it today,’ he said. ‘It’s what I was putting and practising for, maybe a playoff, it was unreal how it went and I didn’t expect that.’
This week’s victory takes his total to ten on the European Tour and extends his run of winning seasons to four – in which time he has won seven times.
It also serves as perfect preparation for September when the Ryder Cup will come to Le Golf National, with Noren hopeful of making his debut in the biennial spectacular.
‘If I would be on the team it would mean a lot,’ he added. ‘You get good memories from here. The first two years I came here I thought I could never win around here and the last three years I’ve had good results. It helps a lot.’
South Africa’s highlight was a final round 68 that lifted Dylan Frittelli into a share of 12th place.
Frittelli finished four shots back and will be left to rue a nine on the par-four 13th during his third round which halted a serious bid for a third title in Europe.
‘It’s unbelievable, I never thought I was going to win’ pic.twitter.com/7ZoNlYqy4o
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) July 1, 2018
