South African Hennie Otto held off the charge of England's Oliver Wilson to win the Italian Open by a shot.
Maiden European title for South African
Collated Scores
South African Hennie Otto held off the charge of England's Oliver Wilson to win the Italian Open by a shot.
Otto started the day with a four-shot lead but Wilson's storming 64 left him needing a par at the last to avoid a play-off.
The 31-year-old from Boksburg duly held his nerve despite a poor drive to win his maiden European Tour event and the £221,303 first prize.
Otto was beaten in a play-off by Scot Alastair Forsyth in Madeira in March after leading by five.
But there was to be no repeat in Milan - after being caught by Wilson, he responded by sinking a 20-foot birdie putt on the 433-yard 13th.
At the last he narrowly avoided a bunker with his drive and had to play his second shot with one foot in the sand, but conjured up one of the shots of his life to six feet.
He two-putted for a 69 and a 25-under aggregate of 263, one outside the tournament record of Percy Alliss - father of television commentator Peter - back in 1935.
Tour record
At 22-under-par after 54 holes, Otto was only one outside the Tour record held by Ernie Els and David Howell.
He needed a 65 to equal Els' record 29 under at the 2003 Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, but understandably his focus was on achieving a win that secures his Tour membership for the next two years.
Ranked 154th in the world, he has won seven times in his home country since turning professional 10 years ago, including a two-stroke victory over Masters champion Trevor Immelman at the 2003 Tour Championship.
For Wilson, the 27-year-old former Walker Cup player from Mansfield, a superb 64 meant a third runners-up finish of the season and a sixth in all.
Swede Robert Karlsson, who broke the Castello di Tolcinasco course record with his second round 61, finished third after a 67, while England's Phillip Archer (68) and German Marcel Siem (66) shared fourth.
