VERDURA, Italy, April 1, 2012 (AFP) - Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen claimed his maiden European Tour title on Sunday when he defied a late charge from England's Chris Wood to win the Sicilian Open by one shot.
The 22-year-old Olesen started the final round with a three-shot lead and despite being caught by Wood on four separate occasions, he made par at the last two holes for a closing 69 and a 15-under-par total.
Wood finished a shot back in second after a 64, with Nicolas Colsaerts and Soren Kjeldsen tied for third on 12 under.
"It feels amazing. I had three seconds last year, so to finally get my first win is great," said Olesen.
"I've been playing some great golf this year, without all parts of my game coming together. But this week my long and short game both came together, and it feels fantastic to finally get over the line.
"I saw Wood was doing well when I arrived at the ninth, so I knew I had to go for it and make birdies, so it kind of made up my mind for me that I had to play attacking golf."
Wood, who now has six top-three finishes without a win, was delighted with his performance, after he matched Peter Lawrie's course record from the opening round.
"It's been coming for a while. I've been playing really well lately and not getting the scores," said the Englishman.
"It's nice to play well and give myself a chance. I put it in the worst possible position off the tee on 17, but didn't play a bad shot into the green.
"The 18th was a tough hole, so I was pleased with a par to close. Unfortunately it wasn't enough in the end, but I gave it my best shot and that's all you can do."