Mathias Grönberg claimed his fourth victory on The European Tour International Schedule at Gardagolf near Brescia, when a final round 65 saw the 32 year old Swede emerge from the pack to win the 60th Italian Open Telecom Italia.
Grönberg, whose last victory came in the 2000 Mercedes-Benz South African Open, started the final round in a share of seventh place but burst through the field to claim the €194,660 (£135,032) first prize, finishing two shots clear of Ricardo Gonzalez, José Manuel Lara and Colin Montgomerie.
The win, only the second by a Swede in the event after Patrik Sjöland in 1998, saw him move from 154th on the Volvo Order of Merit to 21st with €194,660 (£135,032) and naturally, he admitted he was delighted.
"To win the 60th Italian Open Telecom Italia is just great," he said. "There are a lot of great and famous names on this trophy and it is just fantastic to be a part of that now."
Three shots behind third round leader Gonzalez at the start of the day, Grönberg made his intentions clear early in the day with four birdies in five holes from the third to move into contention.
Par figures followed around the turn but when he chipped in from 30 feet for an eagle three at the 11th, it proved a significant moment for at exactly the same time, Gonzalez was making a double bogey six at the seventh to relinquish his early advantage.
Although he dropped a shot at the 14th, Grönberg recovered well. An 18 foot putt found the bottom of the cup for birdie at the 15th and when he two putted for another birdie at the long 16th, the trophy was within his grasp.
There still remained work to do however. On both the 17th and 18th holes he faced lengthy two putts for par but overcame the hurdle successfully on both occasions. Although Lara and Montgomerie both produced late charges, the main threat was still Gonzalez, out in the final group of the day.
The Argentine, winner of the 2001 Omega European Masters, was three shots behind coming into the final few holes and knew he had to eagle the 16th to have a chance of forcing a play off. He managed a birdie four, but two closing pars consigned him to a share of second.
"When I eagled the 11th I knew I was playing well but I also knew I had to play good golf to keep it going," said Grönberg. "Unfortunately the bogey on the 14th made it a little interesting, but I came back strongly which I was really proud of."
Montgomerie, making his first competitive appearance in Europe this season, admitted that, while disappointed not to have crowned his return with a victory, he was pleased with the week in the Italian mountains.
"I wanted to enter here and get some confidence and I did just that," said the Scot. "I feel as if I'm back. I feel comfortable in Europe, the family is here and I'm here. I feel respected as well which is nice and I feel at home."
Alongside Montgomerie, Lara also had good reason to smile even though a bogey five at the last saw his chance of finishing outright second evaporate. However, it still represented his best finish in a European Tour event.
"I felt very confident on the course and that was a big thing for me," he said. "Obviously it is good for my career because it is my first top three finish. That will help me for the future and obviously the cheque will be a nice bonus too."
Gonzalez, who led going into the final round, could not quite keep his nose in front and was made to rue the errors that saw him double bogey the seventh as well as bogey the fourth and 14th.
"You can't really expect to make those mistakes and still win but I am happy with my week here," he said. "I thought I played well for the four rounds and to finish second is good and hopefully this can give me confidence for the season ahead."
