Italy's Edoardo Molinari made it a brilliant three wins in his last five tournaments today when he beat last year's European Tour Number One Robert Karlsson in a play-off for the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan.
The pair had tied on 13 under par before Molinari, older brother of Francesco whom he will partner at this week's Omega Mission Hills World Cup, sank a four foot birdie putt on the second extra hole.
The 28 year old's previous victories came as he won the European Challenge Tour with record earnings, and the Italian has now climbed to 63rd on the Official World Golf Ranking.
He is also back into the top 10 on the European Ryder Cup world points list.
Karlsson failed to qualify for the Dubai World Championship after a season disrupted by a blister behind a retina. He was out of the game for almost three months.
Joint third were Shane Lowry, who as an amateur won The 3 Irish Open in May, and Japan's Hirofumi Miyase.
