Eighty-three days after losing his European Tour card by €100, Graeme Storm pipped Rory McIlroy in a play-off to win the South African Open.
Storm was given a reprieve when Patrick Reed failed to play enough events to join the Tour and he made the most of his second coming in Johannesburg.
Starting the day three shots clear of the world number two, he almost buckled under the heat as McIlroy made five birdies in a final-round 68.
But the Northern Irishman's bogey on the par-three 17th teed up a play-off which the Hartlepool man took.
He held his nerve to sink a close-range putt after McIlroy had finished the first time they went back up the 18th hole, but when McIlroy drove wildly the second time, he had a chance.
His first shot was not ideal either, though, following McIlroy into the rough, and back they went again.
The third time out, McIlroy's second shot on the par-four was a poor one, falling short of the green, and a 45-foot putt from Storm that skipped just past allowed him to take a par.
And when McIlroy failed from seven feet, the title was Storm's - his second European Tour title and first since he won the French Open in 2007.
"I am speechless. It's been incredible and I can't quite believe it," he said.
"This is a dream come true, especially after what happened to me last year with my card and everything. I really took a lot from that experience and told myself to try and grasp the opportunity of getting my livelihood back with both hands and I have done that this week.
"It's an unbelievable feeling. I hung in there today and didn't play my best stuff but I knew if I could hang in there that I might get my chance and thankfully it came.
"It really means everything to me to be in the winner's circle again.
"I have been to hell and back to be honest with you. It's been an absolute rollercoaster over the last year and a half - especially the end of last year.
"There was pressure today but not the same pressure as trying to keep your European Tour card. That's real pressure and something I don't want to feel for a long time."
Storm picked up £143,000 as a result of the victory.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here