Spain's Alvaro Quiros had mixed emotions after recovering from squandering a seven-shot lead with 12 holes left to beat Zander Lombard in a playoff at the Rocco Forte Open.
Quiros secured his seventh European Tour title, but a first since 2011, with a par on the second extra hole at Verdura Golf Club after South Africa's Lombard three-putted from 40 feet.
The pair had finished tied on 14 under par, one shot ahead of China's Li Haotong, who had an albatross on the 12th in a closing 66 but had to be persuaded to get off a bus heading to the airport as the final group stumbled over the closing stretch.
Spain's Pep Angles was a shot further back after a bogey on the last, with Australians Marcus Fraser and Jason Scrivener sharing fifth.
"It's a strange feeling because obviously I'm very happy," Quiros, who reached as high as 21st in the world in 2011 but started the week 703rd, told Sky Sports.
"It's a victory and means a lot of things, but unfortunately I didn't really like how I finished the round. But I could be speaking about second position so I'm happy.
"At the end the result is the victory and that's the most important thing. It's been a little bit of a mess. The game wasn't that bad, just the last few holes I started to struggle into the wind."
Quiros began the day with a five-shot lead and responded to Lombard's birdies at the first two holes with four of his own at the second, fourth, fifth and sixth to extend his advantage to seven.
However, having dropped just four shots in the first 61 holes, Quiros clearly began to feel the pressure as he bogeyed the eighth, 10th and 15th, before a double bogey on the 16th allowed Lombard to draw level.
Both men then bogeyed the 17th as Angles chipped in for a birdie to close within a shot, which finally persuaded Li to take his clubs off the 3pm bus which was about to leave for the airport.
That proved to be unnecessary as Lombard chipped to within inches of the hole to save par on the last, before Quiros holed from 10 feet after splashing out of a greenside bunker.
Both men parred the first extra hole, but Lombard then three-putted the second to allow a grateful Quiros to tap-in for victory and a European Tour exemption until the end of 2018.
Lombard said: "I'm very happy with how I kept myself in contention and all the best for Alvaro. He's a great champion, he's won in the past and it's nice to see him win again.
"I'm very pleased with this performance going into next week and hopefully I can keep this form up. It's a good consolation prize to get into Wentworth for the BMW PGA Championship.
"I suppose winning isn't everything but I can't complain, losing in a playoff -- it's anybody's game with this wind. The main thing I take from this is that I can be in contention and I can win. I just need to trust myself and believe that."