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Agrigento - World No 703 Alvaro Quiros just about held his nerve to beat South Africa's Zander Lombard in a playoff for his first title in six years on Sunday in Sicily.
The 34-year-old Spaniard's victory at the Sicily Open is the seventh of his topsy-turvy career but first title since the 2011 Dubai World Championship.
Quiros had tumbled down the world rankings and lost his playing privileges, but a stellar week in Italy means he is back on the European Tour and will move into the top 250.
He entered the final round with a five-shot lead on Lombard and extended it by a further two after six holes.
But he then dropped five shots on the back nine as Lombard forced the playoff.
Quiros, a former world number 23, admitted he should never have given Lombard a sniff after enjoying such a handsome lead.
"Obviously it shouldn't be like that but at the end it's a victory and that's the most important thing," he told the European Tour.
"It's been a little bit of a mess. The game wasn't that bad. Just the last few holes I started to struggle with the wind left to right and he was playing nice.
"It's a victory, it means a lot of things. Unfortunately I didn't really like how I ended the round. It should never have been that far."
For Lombard, who does not have a European Tour card himself after playing just 12 events last season, it is a second runner-up finish after last season's Joburg Open.
China's Li Haotong finished a shot out of a playoff at 13 under after a closing 66, a shot clear of Spaniard Pep Angles.
Leading final-round scores in the European Tour's Sicily Open at the Verdura Golf and Spa Resort, Agrigento, on Sunday (GBR/IRL unless stated, par 71):
270 - Alvaro Quiros (ESP) 63-64-70-73 (Quiros won at the second extra play-off hole), Zander Lombard (RSA) 62-68-72-68
271 - Li Haotong (CHN) 64-68-73-66
272 - Pep Angles (ESP) 69-66-68-69
273 - Jason Scrivener (AUS) 68-67-71-67, Marcus Fraser (AUS) 66-66-74-67
274 - David Horsey 64-66-74-70
275 - Marcel Siem (GER) 68-68-71-68, Julien Guerrier (FRA) 65-68-72-70, Mark Foster 67-64-75-69
276 - Robert Karlsson (SWE) 70-67-73-66, Jbe Kruger (RSA) 63-69-73-71, Tom Lewis 67-67-72-70, Stuart Manley 66-68-73-69, Mikko Korhonen (FIN) 67-67-73-69, Lee Slattery 64-70-70-72, Michael Hoey 61-68-75-72
277 - Sebastian Soderberg (SWE) 61-68-77-71, Daniel Im (USA) 66-70-72-69, Eduardo De La Riva (ESP) 64-71-70-72, Johan Carlsson (SWE) 67-65-72-73, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA) 69-62-73-73
278 - Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 65-69-74-70, Gary Hurley 67-66-72-73, Renato Paratore (ITA) 71-62-70-75, James Morrison 71-65-71-71
