New Zealand's Ryan Fox has lost an agonising sudden-death playoff against France's Victor Perez to finish second at the Dutch Open.
Fox looked certain to claim his third European Tour win, after an eagle on the 12th, and birdies on the 11th and 14th, establishing a three-shot lead in the last round, but a double-bogey on the final regulation hole gave Perez the opening he needed.
The pair went shot for shot on the first three extra holes, before Fox missed his fourth putt, allowing Perez the chance to seal victory with a long putt.
Perez pocketed 291,660 euros (NZ$480,000) for his first-placed finish, while Fox walked away with 194,440 euros ($320,000), after his final-round 68.
"There's a fair amount of fortune, I've got to be honest with myself, holing all those long putts in the play-off," Perez told Sky Sports.
"It's hard to put into words, because it's a long day and Ryan was flying for a while. We didn't even really think we had a chance.
"Coming down 16, I knew I probably had to birdie the last three and [caddie] James told me don't look up at the leaderboard. I holed the putt on 17 and the playoff was just a bit of magic.
"I just tried to focus on me all day - that's all I can do. I was trying to keep a champion mindset and hit good shots, and the chips were going to fall where they fell.
"It's almost impossible to predict what's going to happen in golf. Guys come out of nowhere and win tournaments, guys take huge leads.
"You just have to focus on you and not look at the boards, and I was just fortunate to fall on the good side today."
