Rory McIlroy finished in style to reach a play-off at the Omega European Masters but ultimately came up short as Sweden's Sebastian Soderberg claimed his maiden European Tour title at Crans-sur-Sierre.
Five birdies in the final seven holes saw McIlroy finish on 14 under to join eventual winner Soderberg, Lorenzo Gagli, Kalle Samooja and Andres Romero in the play-off.
But it was the 28-year-old Swede who birdied the first extra hole to secure his first win Tour victory.
After an incredible finish and 5-man playoff Sebastian Söderberg wins the @omegaEUmasters!#OEM2019 pic.twitter.com/hqkKIz4hMV
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 1, 2019
Argentinian Romero's hopes looked to be fading when he dropped three shots in his opening five holes and McIlroy and Australian Wade Ormsby established a two-shot lead.
But as McIlroy and Ormsby produced late stumbles, Romero came home in 31 to sign for a 66 and lead the way at 14 under.
The 38-year-old produced a brilliant run of scoring on the back nine, going birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie from the 13th to edge a shot ahead of Ormsby, who bogeyed the last in his round of 67.
World number two McIlroy arrived in Crans Montana just hours after lifting the FedEx Cup in Atlanta on the PGA Tour and showed signs of fatigue as he bogeyed three of his last five holes to sit three shots off the lead after a round of 69.
"I felt a little flat out there, a little tired," said the Irishman. "Maybe it just all caught up with me. I'm looking forward to getting to bed early and getting a good night's sleep.
"I played pretty solid, made those mistakes coming in. If I go out and play a good front nine tomorrow I'll be right in it."
Englishman Fleetwood had bogeyed the second, third and sixth playing alongside Romero but birdied the ninth, 12th, 14th, 15th and 17th to sit at 12 under alongside Malaysia's Gavin Green.
"It's easy to get down on yourself," Fleetwood told europeantour.com. "It was a terrible start but I didn't do that much wrong.
"I had a good finish. It's that kind of golf course where you can get hot. Tomorrow I definitely need a better start but the back nine, need more of that."
Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Lorenzo Gagli and Kalle Samooja were also at 11 under, a shot clear of major champion Sergio Garcia, Renato Paratore, Matthias Schwab and Sebastian Soderberg.
