Italy's Andrea Pavan claimed his second European Tour title by beating England's Matt Fitzpatrick in a playoff in the BMW International Open.
Pavan birdied the second extra hole after both players had finished tied on 15 under par, two shots ahead of a seven-strong group including overnight leader Jordan Smith and defending champion Matt Wallace.
Fitzpatrick enjoyed a massive stroke of luck on the first playoff hole when his approach from 285 yards somehow plugged on a downslope just inches from a water hazard, but a poor pitch meant he could only match Pavan’s par.
The players returned to the par-five 18th and after Pavan hit a superb third shot from the rough to tap-in range, Fitzpatrick mishit his bunker shot and could not hole a lengthy birdie attempt.
Pavan set the clubhouse target after a flawless closing 66 and looked on as Fitzpatrick had an eagle putt to win on the 72nd hole, only to leave it short.
Wallace also needed to birdie the last to match Pavan’s total but found water twice and did well to salvage a bogey six.
“I was in a playoff in qualifying for the US Open with five guys for one spot and I three-putted the first and then you go home with nothing,” Pavan said.
“Here at least the worst you finish is second but it’s very satisfying to get the win, it’s so hard, so difficult.”
Collated final scores & totals in the European Tour BMW International Open (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
(a) denotes amateurs
273 Andrea Pavan (Ita) 66 71 70 66 (Won at the second extra play-off hole), Matthew Fitzpatrick 73 66 65 69
275 Matt Wallace 69 68 68 70, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa) 70 65 70 70, Jordan Smith 70 67 66 72, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 70 69 70 66, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 70 69 65 71, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 70 67 71 67, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 68 72 66
276 Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 70 70 66 70, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 71 68 72 65, Callum Shinkwin 69 69 70 68, Lee Westwood 68 69 69 70
277 Sebastian Soderberg (Swe) 69 67 70 71, Filippo Bergamaschi (Ita) 70 69 68 70
278 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 67 66 75 70, Erik Van Rooyen (Rsa) 71 69 71 67, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 72 70 71 65, Kim Koivu (Fin) 70 66 74 68
279 Joachim B. Hansen (Den) 70 70 68 71
280 Kurt Kitayama (USA) 71 68 72 69, Sihwan Kim (Kor) 73 69 72 66, Sam Horsfield 72 67 71 70, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 69 70 72 69, Ashley Chesters 70 70 69 71
281 Alex Noren (Swe) 69 71 71 70, Espen Kofstad (Nor) 71 71 68 71, Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 69 71 71 70, Oliver Wilson 67 74 71 69, David Horsey 74 66 72 69, Jason Scrivener (Aus) 73 68 72 68, Andrew Sullivan 69 72 69 71, David Lipsky (USA) 74 68 70 69
282 Andrew Johnston 70 69 72 71, Steven Brown 71 71 71 69, Jeff Winther (Den) 68 72 72 70
283 David Law 74 67 73 69, Robert Rock 70 71 72 70, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 73 67 70 73, Ashun Wu (Chn) 71 69 68 75, Gavin Green (Mal) 69 72 71 71, Jens Dantorp (Swe) 71 71 73 68
284 Adam Bland (Aus) 70 70 73 71
285 Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 70 72 74 69, David Howell 72 70 72 71, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 72 70 74 69, John Catlin (USA) 73 66 74 72, Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) 70 71 74 70
286 Lucas Herbert (Aus) 72 70 71 73, Andres Romero (Arg) 71 71 71 73, Robert Macintyre 74 68 73 71, Paul Peterson (USA) 73 69 73 71
287 Max Schmitt (Ger) 69 68 74 76, S.S.P Chawrasia (Ind) 73 68 73 73, Hugo Leon (USA) 71 71 73 72, Anton Karlsson (Swe) 72 70 74 71, Dominic Foos (Ger) 72 70 72 73, Niklas Lemke (Swe) 72 70 73 72, Joel Girrbach (Swi) 70 71 72 74
288 Fabrizio Zanotti (Pry) 75 66 77 70, Marcel Schneider (Ger) 73 69 74 72
289 Darius Van Driel (Ned) 69 73 74 73, Richard McEvoy 69 73 72 75, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 69 71 75 74, (a) Luis Gagne (Crc) 71 68 77 73
290 David Drysdale 74 67 76 73
292 Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 72 66 76 78
293 Renato Paratore (Ita) 74 68 76 75
