Nicolas Colsaerts described his near-miss at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship as "bittersweet" after pushing Tyrrell Hatton all the way at St Andrews.
The Belgian was a picture of consistency after recording three straight rounds of 65 on the Old Course, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns Golf Links to sit one shot adrift of overnight leader Hatton at 21 under.
Colsaerts made a fast start back on the Old Course with birdies at the third, fourth and seventh to briefly join the Englishman at the summit before a bogey at the eighth saw the 41-year-old slip back.
Hatton extended his advantage to three shots before a double bogey at the 13th and another dropped shot at 14th trimmed his lead to one.
Colsaerts had also bogeyed the 13th but birdied the 15th to sit at the top of the leaderboard alongside Hatton until the World Number 38 held his nerve from three feet at the last to secure a one-shot victory at 24 under.
Hatton made history with the success by becoming the first player to win the event three times.
Colsaerts, who was part of the victorious Team Europe at the 2012 Ryder Cup, had a spell away from the game in early 2022 due to a rare kidney diagnosis as his wait for a fourth DP World Tour title passes the five year mark.
"Pretty proud," Colsaerts said. "Listen, I played well in this event before, but to be able to put a couple good rounds together, get all the way to the end in a position that I haven't really been in the last couple of years is quite good.
"When you finish like that it's a bit bittersweet. But if you look at what happened during the course, the way it all panned out, it was probably eight, nine, 10, 11 (which let me down).
"People might look at the last, but I could have maybe done a little bit better throughout the middle of the round.
"When you have not been in a position like this for a while, yeah, you kind of forget how much it grabs you.
"You become a bit anxious but at the same time, you focus and get really, really tuned in. I was able to hit a amazing shots down the last couple holes."
