Molinari claims Phoenix win

Molinari: fourth win of the season

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Italy's Edoardo Molinari edged out Robert Karlsson in a play-off to win the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan.

The duo both finished on 13-under-par after 72 holes, but it was Molinari who prevailed on the second extra hole as he sunk a four-foot birdie putt.

The victory was Molinari's third in his last five tournament starts and denied Karlsson, last year's Order of Merit champion, a first success since his return following an eye injury.

Karlsson had opened a slender one-stroke advantage halfway through the final round, but overnight leader Molinari fought back to close that deficit over the back nine.

Molinari's triumph was the fourth of a season which has seen the Italian emerge as the runaway winner of the Challenge Tour, Europe's "second division".

The 28-year-old, older brother of European Tour player Francesco, has now moved back into the top ten on the European Ryder Cup world points list and sits just outside the world's top 60.

The runner-up finish will be a welcome boost for Karlsson who failed to qualify for this week's Dubai World Championship after missing over three months of the campaign with his eye complaint.

Joint third were Irishman Shane Lowry, who as an amateur won the Irish Open in May, and Japan's Hirofumi Miyase.