European Tour: Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano admitted claiming his second European Tour title had been a greater test after he defeated Sweden's Henrik Stenson in a dramatic first-hole play-off at the Asian Open in Shanghai.

The 25-year-old forced a title play-off when he sank a 30-foot birdie putt on the 16th just when Stenson found trouble on the same hole at the Tomson Golf Club.

Castano took a one-shot lead going into the final hole and sank a six-foot putt before Stenson came back with a much-needed birdie to force a play-off.

The Spaniard, who finished second in last week's Volvo China Open, continued his impressive form to snare his second title after last year's KLM Open in the Netherlands.

He finished ahead of Portugal's Jose-Filipe Lima and Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, who both finished joint third on six under for the tournament.

Dubliner Lawrie had too much ground to make up after his third-round 75, and a closing-round 71 left him five shots behind the winner on 286. David Higgins closed with a 74 for 290, one shot better than Damien McGrane, who closed with a 73.

"It was really more difficult to win my second title," said Castano. "That shot on the 16th was not my best shot but it was great under the circumstances and when I was under pressure from Henrik (Stenson) in such an important tournament.

"Winning this tournament is a great thing but when you see the leaderboard and you see all the players in the top 10 and all the players I have beaten today, it's just unbelievable. It's a dream come true.

"When I teed off this morning, I tried to have fun. That's what I did. I played my difficult Spanish golf and it worked."

Stenson would be kicking himself for practically handing the title to the young Spaniard after a triple bogey on the ninth derailed any real hope of snatching the silverware.

"It's always difficult to lose. I was leading by a shot during the past couple of days but I knew all the guys were going to challenge me. I knew I blew it on the ninth. It's a bit unfortunate but that's how it goes," said Stenson.

On a tense last day marked by low scores, the lead changed hands at least four times as the top European players hit form on the par-72, 7,300-yard course.

Castano drove his tee shot into the trees when the pair returned to the 18th tee but recovered with a superb chip on his third shot that landed just inches from the cup.

Stenson also drove into the woods off the tee and could only manage to par the 18th hole, to hand Castano victory and 243,000 in prize money.

England's Paul Casey, who eventually finished tied fifth, had snatched a share of the lead after six holes with birdies on the second and fifth, but Stenson stormed right back, reclaiming the outright lead after the sixth to go seven under.

Montgomerie got off to a poor start when he bogeyed the first hole, but he made amends by producing one of his best finishes in many weeks. He collected birdies on the second, seventh, ninth, 10th and 12th and sank a six-foot putt on the last hole to card four-under-par 68.

Simon Dyson took joint leadership after the 12th hole as a group moved ominously closer to the top of the leaderboard, but the Englishman failed to sustain his challenge and gradually faded to end the day on four-under-par 68 and finish five under.