Tyrrell Hatton reaped the rewards of his patience as he added the Italian Open title to his defence of the Dunhill Links Championship.
The Englishman, who triumphed at St Andrews last Sunday, claimed back-to-back victories with a final-round 65 in Monza when he holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to edge past clubhouse leaders Ross Fisher and Kiradech Aphibarnrat to 21 under par.
For Paul Dunne it was a quiet final day but another successful week on the whole as he finished with a round of 69 for a total of 13 under par and a tie for 26th place.
The 24-year-old picks up a cheque for €57,344 and will now travel home for a week off before jetting out to China for his World Golf Championship debut at the HSBC Champions event.
He birdied five of the last seven holes as he timed his run to perfection, and later revealed caddie Jonathan Bell’s advice had proved key.
Hatton told www.europeantour.com: “It’s amazing to win one, but to win back-to-back and defend in two weeks is unbelievable.
“I knew I needed a low score today, and the front nine was pretty slow and I didn’t really get any momentum.
“I was fighting myself, trying to stay patient and JB, my caddie, was saying, ‘Good things will come’. Although I found it hard to believe, I tried to stay patient. In the end, I guess I got my reward.
“The end goal is to get as high as possible up the world rankings. Obviously the last two weeks have helped a lot.”
Hatton was pushed all the way by compatriot Fisher, who shot an eight-under-par 63, and Thailand’s Aphibarnrat as they finished joint-second on 20 under par.
Fisher, who set a new course record at St Andrews with a round of 61 last Sunday, birdied three of the first four holes to set up his charge but finished with four fours.
Aphibarnrat launched his assault with birdies at each of the first four holes, but a double bogey at the 16th cost him dearly.
It proved to be a disappointing day for overnight leader Matt Wallace, who carried a two-shot lead into the final round.
Just two birdies on the outward nine left the Englishman under pressure and a bogey six at the 14th proved costly, despite chipping in from behind the green on 17 to keep his hopes alive.
His chance was gone when he found a green-side bunker at the last and emerged with only a par to remain on 19 under and finish in fourth place.
Graeme McDowell finished with a level par round of 71 for a total of three under par.
Collated fourth and final round scores in the European Tour Italian Open, Golf Club Milano, Parco Reale di Monza, Monza, Italy (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):
263 Tyrrell Hatton 69 64 65 65
264 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 64 67 68 65, Ross Fisher 68 66 67 63
265 Matt Wallace 64 65 67 69
266 Marcus Fraser (Aus) 67 62 72 65
267 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 64 68 66 69, Tommy Fleetwood 71 66 63 67, David Horsey 70 64 69 64, George Coetzee (Rsa) 65 69 65 68
268 Mike Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 67 67 66, Marc Warren 66 69 67 66, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 67 66 65, Eddie Pepperell 64 69 69 66, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 68 67 69 64
269 Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 68 66 66 69, Jon Rahm (Spa) 67 68 69 65, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 66 70 65 68, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 68 68 67 66, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 70 68 67 64, Matthew Fitzpatrick 68 69 64 68
270 Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 65 69 66 70, Jeunghun Wang (Kor) 68 67 68 67, Austin Connelly (Can) 68 65 72 65, Jordan Smith 70 67 70 63, Gregory Havret (Fra) 66 69 70 65
271 Alexander Levy (Fra) 68 69 66 68, David Drysdale 67 70 68 66, Paul Dunne 67 69 66 69, Jamie Donaldson 64 67 71 69
272 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 67 70 69, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 68 69 70 65
273 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 68 69 65 71, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 67 69 67, Joost Luiten (Ned) 68 68 68 69, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 69 69 69 66, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 67 67 70 69, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 70 66 68 69
274 Alex Noren (Swe) 66 70 66 72, Florian Fritsch (Ger) 67 67 69 71
275 Richie Ramsay 67 68 69 71, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 64 69 69 73, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 69 67 69 70, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 67 69 71 68, Nacho Elvira (Spa) 70 68 70 67
276 Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 65 69 71, Daniel Brooks 67 68 73 68, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 69 67 71 69, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 70 67 71 68, Enrico Di Nitto (Ita) 69 69 72 66
277 Richard Bland 72 65 71 69, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 66 71 70 70, Chris Hanson 68 70 71 68, Luke Donald 69 67 70 71, Julien Quesne (Fra) 68 70 69 70, Soomin Lee (Kor) 71 67 73 66
278 Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 67 71 74 66, Johan Carlsson (Swe) 70 68 71 69
279 Lorenzo Scalise (a) (Ita) 69 69 69 72, Dean Burmester (Rsa) 70 68 71 70, David Howell 67 71 73 68, Chris Paisley 66 69 71 73, Lee Westwood 69 69 72 69
280 Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 66 72 77 65, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 69 69 72 70
281 Graeme McDowell 69 69 72 71
287 Sam Brazel (Aus) 67 71 79 70
