Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher fired a timely eagle two on the par-4 16th hole to seize the $2.5 million Dubai Desert Classic by three shots.
On a difficult day at the Majlis course of Emirates Golf Club, Gallacher battled it out with South Africa’s Richard Sterne before the magic second shot with a sandwedge from 115 yard changed the complexion of the tournament.
It was Gallacher’s fifth eagle of the event and helped him close the tournament with a one-under par 71 round.
That gave him a four-day tally of 22-under par 266, matching the all-time lowest winning total in the history of the tournament (Thomas Bjorn in 2001).
The victory was only the second European Tour win for the 38-year-old Scotsman. His last win came way back in October 2004 when he won the Dunhill Links Championship.
Sterne (71) had a back nine wobble and was second at 19-under par 269, while Chile’s Felipe Aguilar (69) and Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen (71) were tied third at 17-under par 271.
Australian Marcus Fraser hit a 67 to finish in a tie for fifth with world No.8 Lee Westwood (68) of England, who reached 17-under par with four holes to play only to miss a birdie chance from five feet before closing with two bogeys and a birdie.
“I knew it was going to be a difficult day given the gusty wind and I knew I just had to stay patient throughout. Anything could have happened out there if you caught a bit of wind,” said Gallacher, who is expected to rise to No.60 in the world from his present ranking of 111.
“I didn’t realise it is 201 tournaments since my last win, but now that I have got it, it is even sweeter.”
It was a tentative beginning from Gallacher, who lost his three-shot lead in the second hole itself after missing a four-footer par putt on the first and pushing his tee shot into the trees right of the short par-4 second green.
Sterne, on the other hand, chipped it to two feet for his first birdie of the day on the second.
On the eight hole, Gallacher made a bogey after hitting his tee shot into the waste area, and then hit a stunning second shot to three feet from the rough and in between the trees to an unsighted pin for a birdie on the ninth.
Sterne edged ahead with a birdie on the par-5 10th, but Gallacher limited the damage with a par putt from 20 feet.
One ahead after 10, Sterne then dropped shots on consecutive holes to hand over the lead once again to Gallacher, only to tie again on the par-5 13th when he birdied the hole and his rival made a par.
The key moment, obviously, was his eagle on the 16th, coupled with another brace of dropped shots on the 15th and 16th from Sterne.
The win is almost certain to qualify Gallacher for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, and has put him in a good position to get into the top-50 of the world and a first start at the Masters in April.