Fredrik Andersson Hed of Sweden narrowly hung on to beat England's David Horsey by two shots and claim his first European Tour victory at the BMW Italian Open.
Andersson Hed took a six shot lead into the final round after firing a superb 63 on Saturday. But a nervous Andersson Hed saw that lead whittled away as Horsey made a charge on the front nine.
"It means a lot to win, both for the rankings and self-confidence. It would have felt even better to have played well today but I was here to be first and now I am first," he said.
"I got off to a flying start and I didn't look at a leaderboard until around the 13th when I saw that it was very close," he said. "I really thought I was in with a good shout and it's disappointing, but I can take a lot of positives from this week."
With the win, Andersson-Hed has climbed to 19th on the Race to Dubai standings. Perhaps better than that for the 38-year-old, who's been to the qualifying school on 14 occasions, will be the knowledge he's also earned a two-year tour exemption.
England's Chris Wood finished the week in a tie for third with Peter Gustafsson and Nicolas Colsaerts.
BMW Italian Open Royal Park I Roveri, Turin May 6 - 9, purse €1,300,000, par 72
1 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 66 63 73 272 €216,660 2 David Horsey (Eng) 68 71 67 68 274 €144,440 T3 Peter Gustafsson (Swe) 71 69 70 66 276 €67,143 T3 Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 70 67 69 70 276 €67,143 T3 Chris Wood (Eng) 71 70 65 70 276 €67,143 6 Ignacio Garrido (Esp) 70 67 70 70 277 €45,500 T7 Stephen Dodd (Wal) 68 74 69 67 278 €33,540 T7 Graeme Storm (Eng) 67 73 69 69 278 €33,540 T7 Hennie Otto (RSA) 68 69 71 70 278 €33,540
