It was ecstasy for Luke Donald at the Madrid Masters as he bounced back from his Wentworth disappointment in style.
Donald, who missed out on the BMW PGA Championship by a shot after taking a double bogey seven on the penultimate hole, this time grabbed a brilliant eagle to settle his duel with Welshman Rhys Davies.
Level with three to play, the 32 year old hit a 252 yard fairway wood to 12 feet on the long 16th and with his third eagle of the week - "it's because I'm a big-hitter" he joked - struck the decisive blow.
Davies, already a winner in this his first full season on The European Tour, birdied the hole and still had a chance to force sudden death, but his 20 foot effort on the last was never on the right line.
The victory lifts Donald from 13th to ninth in the Official World Golf Rankings - and that makes it an incredible four English players in the world's top ten just nine years after Lee Westwood was the only one in the top 100.
Donald's last victory was the Honda Classic in America in March 2006 and his last in Europe came in Switzerland in September 2004.
Donald won with a closing 67 to Davies' 68 and with a 21 under par total of 267. It earned him €250,000 but he said: "The money is secondary.
"It's been a while since I won and to put last week behind me makes me very proud.
"The way I played today means a lot to me. The eagle was huge because Rhys put a lot of pressure on me.
"It's happiness and relief - definitely some relief."
Davies, 25 last Friday, would have leapt into the top 50 with victory, but he is climbing fast and he will hope to go one better at this coming week's Celtic Manor Wales Open.
"I didn't make a bogey in the final group in a big tournament," Davies said. "It didn't quite come off, but I've got lots to be pleased about.
"I was chasing the win and I just came up short unfortunately. On the 16th I thought I might keep the momentum (he had just birdied the 15th to level), but he threw in an eagle to be fair to him."
Italian Francesco Molinari had also eagled the 16th to be in the joint lead, but that was before Donald and Davies played the hole and he finished third on 18 under.
A further shot back in fourth was Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, whose 65 was one outside the course record equalled earlier in the day by Spaniard José Manuel Lara.
Off the course, tournament organiser Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño presented his recently created Foundation to help disadvantaged children.
“Golf has given me a lot, and I realize that I wouldn’t be here without my parents’ education,” said the 29 year old.
“So we decided to put up this Foundation with my friend Raimundo Fernández Villaverde and my partner Carlo Cutropía. Our present goal is to raise funds for all kinds of social and welfare projects related to children, but we would like to have our own organisation structure in the future.
“We are centred in Spain for the time being, but we plan to extend to other countries like Sergio Garcia and Ernie Els have done with their own foundations.
“Finally, I wish to thank José Mª Michavila, a person deeply involved in welfare matters through [pop stars] Shakira, Alejandro Sanz and their friends, for their continued help and support with our project.”
