Matthew Fitzpatrick, winner of the 2016 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, gave himself the perfect fillip as the countdown to the defence of his title at Jumeirah Golf Estates begins by claiming his fourth European Tour title in dramatic fashion at the Omega European Masters at Crans-sur Sierre Golf Club in Switzerland.

The 23 year old, who won the Race to Dubai’s grand finale with a one-stroke victory over Tyrrell Hatton last year, had endured a relatively quiet season with just two top ten finishes to his name prior to arriving in Switzerland. But, after beating Australia’s Scott Hend at the third hole of a sudden-death play-off to win 450,000 points and move from 30th to 12^th in the rankings, the Englishman is now in a strong position with ten tournaments including four big-money Rolex Series events culminating in the Dubai showpiece on the Earth course from November 16 – 19, still to play.