Shane Lowry began the Italian Open with the chance to top the Race to Dubai standings, but it's Bernd Wiesberger who leads the way after he held off the challenge of England's Matthew Fitzpatrick to claim his third win of the season at the Italian Open.
Lowry needed a top-three finish to assume the No 1 position. He missed the cut however, and Austrian Wiesberger impressive success made it a very sweet weekend for him.
He carded a bogey-free 65 in Rome to overturn a three-shot deficit and beat overnight leader Fitzpatrick by one - condemning the 2016 Ryder Cup star to a fifth runners-up finish of the 2019 campaign worldwide.
Fitzpatrick had started the day with a one-shot lead but a double-bogey after going out of bounds off the tee on the ninth proved costly.
The Yorkshireman picked up three shots on the back nine to finish but could only par the last after leaving himself 35 feet for a birdie that would have moved him to 15 under and into a play-off.
Graeme McDowell was the best of the Irish, signing off with a 71 to finish on seven-under, nine shots off the winner.
Padraig Harrington and Paul Dunne, like Lowry, failed to make the weekend.
Wiesberger missed the last seven months of the 2018 season with a wrist injury but now sits at the top of the Race to Dubai and has a flying start in his quest to make a Ryder Cup debut in 2020.
"It's been a great summer for me," he said. "I've had a lot of good golf shown and a lot of progress after coming back from the last year.
"I've won three times this year and it's been the same every time, I've just really enjoyed my time and I'm positive to be back out there because I know how tough it was when I had to withdraw from these great events."
American Kurt Kitayama finished at 12 under, a shot clear of England's Andrew Johnston, Scot Robert MacIntyre and Austria's Matthias Schwab.
