John Higgins ended his three-year wait for a ranking title by capturing the British Open crown with a 9-6 victory over fellow Scot Stephen Maguire in Brighton tonight.
Higgins, beaten in his last six finals, roared back to his best to take his 25th major title.
It capped a memorable week for the 29-year-old who had been ready to pull out of the event if his heavily pregnant wife Denise went into labour.
"That's probably the most important title I've ever won," Higgins said.
"When I first started winning tournaments 10 years ago they came in a steady stream but when you haven't won one for three years you start to doubt yourself."
Maguire, 23, had reached the final, with a stunning 6-1 defeat of world champion O'Sullivan on Saturday.
He opened up against Higgins with a break of 71 but fell 3-1 adrift at the first interval as his compatriot reproduced the form that saw him whitewash Shaun Murphy in the semi-finals.
Higgins, appearing in his first ranking final since the LG Cup 13 months ago, made a break of 100 in the third frame as he established his two-frame advantage.
Maguire hit back, though, with runs of 72, 55 and 76 to lead 4-3 before Higgins ended the opening session with an effort of 53 to make it 4-4.
At 5-5, Higgins upped his game as he fired in successive breaks of 144 and 107 to go two frames clear again.
A 68 made it 8-5 and Higgins clinched victory two frames later with a run of 97.
"I played very well to go from 5-5 to 7-5," Higgins said. "Stephen is such a tough opponent and he played really well all week."
Maguire, who won the European Open last season, rises to seventh in the provisional rankings after another impressive week.
He said: "I'm a little bit disappointed because when you reach a final you want to win but John played really well.
"At least I didn't freeze in the final. John looked so good, he hasn't won for a few years but I practise with him a lot and I knew he'd be back."
