11th European Tour win for Englishman
England's Paul Casey holed a six-foot par putt on the last to claim a one-shot victory in the Volvo Golf Champions event in Bahrain.
The 33-year-old from Surrey shrugged off his only bogey of the day at 16 to win by a shot from Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez and Swede Peter Hanson.
Hanson shared the lead with Casey overnight and drew level with his playing partner at the top of the leaderboard after the Englishman's dropped shot at 16.
The tournament looked set for a play-off but Hanson failed to make par on 18 from greenside dirt after chipping to 10 feet, while Casey got up-and-down to secure his 11th European Tour win and his first since the BMW PGA Championship in 2009.
Scotland's Stephen Gallacher took fourth place and Swede Robert Karlsson, the defending champion in Qatar next week, was fifth.
Casey started the week as world number nine - the highest-ranked player in the field - and will climb to number five unless Phil Mickelson finishes first or outright second at the San Diego Open later on Sunday.
Fantastic
"It feels fantastic," he said. "The most important thing to me is winning and that was huge. The goal is obviously the majors, but how are you going to win major championships if you can't win regular events? I'm going in the right direction."
Course-record rounds of 63 from Dane Soren Kjeldsen and England's Richard Finch were deceptive because by the time the leaders came to the back nine a strong wind had picked up on the desert course.
"We thought it was going to be benign, but we faced a course that was treacherous," Casey added.
There were a remarkable 23 changes at the top of the leaderboard on the final day, before Casey held on for victory with a closing 68.
Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke, Hanson's compatriot Johan Edfors and South African James Kingston all slipped up after holding at least a share of the lead, Clarke having bogey sixes on both the ninth and 13th and finishing with a double bogey.
The 33-year-old from Surrey shrugged off his only bogey of the day at 16 to win by a shot from Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez and Swede Peter Hanson.
Hanson shared the lead with Casey overnight and drew level with his playing partner at the top of the leaderboard after the Englishman's dropped shot at 16.
The tournament looked set for a play-off but Hanson failed to make par on 18 from greenside dirt after chipping to 10 feet, while Casey got up-and-down to secure his 11th European Tour win and his first since the BMW PGA Championship in 2009.
Scotland's Stephen Gallacher took fourth place and Swede Robert Karlsson, the defending champion in Qatar next week, was fifth.
Casey started the week as world number nine - the highest-ranked player in the field - and will climb to number five unless Phil Mickelson finishes first or outright second at the San Diego Open later on Sunday.
Fantastic
"It feels fantastic," he said. "The most important thing to me is winning and that was huge. The goal is obviously the majors, but how are you going to win major championships if you can't win regular events? I'm going in the right direction."
Course-record rounds of 63 from Dane Soren Kjeldsen and England's Richard Finch were deceptive because by the time the leaders came to the back nine a strong wind had picked up on the desert course.
"We thought it was going to be benign, but we faced a course that was treacherous," Casey added.
There were a remarkable 23 changes at the top of the leaderboard on the final day, before Casey held on for victory with a closing 68.
Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke, Hanson's compatriot Johan Edfors and South African James Kingston all slipped up after holding at least a share of the lead, Clarke having bogey sixes on both the ninth and 13th and finishing with a double bogey.
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