Rory McIlroy claimed his seventh Race to Dubai title but was edged out in a play-off by Matt Fitzpatrick at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
In a remarkable repeat of his heroics on the 72nd green at the Irish Open in the K Club, McIlroy, who led for much of the back nine on Sunday, holed a 15-footer for eagle to force his way into the play-off with his Ryder Cup team-mate.
It sparked hopes of a repeat of the dramatic scenes in Kildare in September, when McIlroy finally overcame Joakim Lagergren on the third play-off hole.
However, this play-off was a comparative damp squib, with McIlroy's hopes essentially sunk after he dunked his drive in the stream that wound its way through the par-5 18th. After taking his penalty shot, he bombed his third shot into the bunker to the right of the green.
2022 US Open champion Fitzpatrick, who posted a 66 to set the clubhouse lead on 18-under, took a conservative tack on the extra hole, laying up with his second shot before hitting a jittery approach beyond the back of the green.
However, a composed pitch shot left him with a two-footer for par, leaving McIlroy with another long-ish putt to prolong the play-off.
This time, his putt died short of the hole and Fitzpatrick tapped in to seal the title.
McIlroy may have missed out on the title but the second place finish was enough to seal a fourth successive Race to Dubai win and a seventh in total. He is now just one short of Colin Montgomerie's all-time record.
Tied for the lead at the beginning of the day, McIlroy grabbed the initiative early in the final round, rattling in four birdies on the front nine to get to 17-under par, while his playing partner Rasmus Neergard-Petersen faltered with three dropped strokes on his outward nine.
He rolled in a 13-footer on the 11th to seemingly further copper-fasten his hold on the event, which had produced a star-studded and highly-congested leaderboard after Day 3. However, he stumbled on the homeward stretch, with missed fairways costing dropped strokes on the 12th and 16th holes.
In the mean-time, Fitzpatrick made a late burst, with three birdies in his final five holes for a blemish-free 66 to post the clubhouse lead at 18-under.
Tommy Fleetwood and Ludvig Aberg carded respective rounds of 67 and 66 to finish one shot adrift on 17-under, while Neergaard-Petersen mounted a stunning late burst with an eagle and three birdies in his last five holes to join them.
However, the spotlight fell on McIlroy, who boomed a sensational approach into 15ft at the 570-yard 18th and then drained the putt, sending the galleries into raptures once again. But it wasn't to be in the play-off.
Fitzpatrick told Sky Sports: "He (McIlroy) is one of only a few where you know you are going to a play-off. You are two clear with one to play and you know you are going to a play-off because he did it again in typical Rory fashion.
"I struggled at the start of the year obviously and to turn it round in the summer like I did, have the Ryder Cup like I did which is hard to top but the way I played today – there was one bad shot all day. So proud of myself."
McIlroy expressed some degree of disappointment, having started the final round in style and moving clear at the top of the leaderboard after going four-under through the first seven holes.
But he expressed pride at surpassing the late Seve Ballesteros – a six-time Race to Dubai winner – and set his sights on catching and surpassing Montgomerie.
He said: "It's amazing, I had a conversation with Carmen (Ballesteros’ ex wife) before I went out to play today and she told me how proud he would have been.
"I want it (eight titles), of course I do. I was the first European to win the Grand Slam and I would love to be the European with the most wins in terms of the Order of Merit and season long races."
Shane Lowry also eagled the 72nd hole with a mammoth 65ft putt but it concluded a topsy-turvy round, the Offaly man registering four birdies and three bogeys en route to a closing 69, leaving him on 13-under and tied-11th.
Tom McKibbin also made it inside the top-20 after posting his best round of the week, a bogey-free 67 to finish on tied-16th on 11-under par.
