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Rabat - Italy's Edoardo Molinari won his third European Tour title and first since 2010 on Sunday by defeating Ireland's Paul Dunne in a sudden-death playoff at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco.
Both men finished tied on nine under par at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam for the four rounds before the more experienced Molinari, 36, triumphed over Dunne, who led by two shots overnight.
The 24-year-old Irishman and ranked 241 in the world, who shared the 54-hole lead in the 2015 Open at St Andrews while still an amateur, had been bidding for his first professional win.
Molinari, whose last victory came at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in 2010, told www.europeantour.com: "It's fantastic. I've been through some very hard times with injuries and bad form.
"To be able to win this week deletes a lot of bad memories and hopefully I can keep going down this road."
Dunne admitted that his final-round score of one-under 72 let him down.
"I felt like there were just so many shots that slipped away from me," said the Irishman.
"I'm just a bit disappointed not to come out with the result we wanted but it's a step in the right direction."
Molinari finished his fourth round with an eagle at the 18th to snatch the outright lead but Dunne held his nerve to card a birdie at the last to get to nine under and take the contest to a play-off.
But with Dunne unable to convert his six-foot par putt at the first extra hole, Molinari rolled in from two feet.
Englishman Paul Waring was alone in third on eight under.
Leading final-round scores in the European Tour Trophee Hassan II at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, Rabat, Morocco on Sunday (GBR/IRL unless stated, par 73):
283 - Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 71 74 70 68 (Won at first extra hole), Paul Dunne 73 69 69 72
284 - Paul Waring 74 71 69 70
286 - Victor Dubuisson (FRA) 73 71 72 70, Lasse Jensen (DEN) 75 69 70 72
287 - Chris Hanson 74 70 72 71, Daniel Brooks 73 71 73 70 288 Jordan Smith 73 75 70 70, Ashley Chesters 73 74 72 69, Carlos Pigem (ESP) 75 72 69 72, Renato Paratore (ITA) 73 74 66 75, Trevor Fisher (RSA) 71 70 74 73
289 - Jens Fahrbring (SWE) 73 75 74 67, Matthieu Pavon (FRA) 72 73 72 72, Joost Luiten (NED) 75 72 71 71, Haydn Porteous (RSA) 77 70 74 68, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) 72 73 69 75, James Morrison 70 72 79 68
290 - Ricardo Gouveia (POR) 75 69 73 73, Joel Stalter (FRA) 76 72 71 71, Sebastian Heisele (GER) 72 73 73 72, Jorge Campillo (ESP) 74 69 74 73, David Drysdale 72 76 71 71, Benjamin Hebert (FRA) 75 68 78 69, Dylan Frittelli (RSA) 71 72 72 75, Gregory Havret (FRA) 70 70 75 75
291 - Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN) 70 71 74 76, Duncan Stewart 72 72 74 73, Romain Wattel (FRA) 72 76 73 70, Max Orrin 71 76 75 69, Pelle Edberg (SWE) 71 73 75 72, Chris Paisley 76 72 71 72, Rikard Karlberg (SWE) 75 73 71 72
