Gregory Havret described it as a “tough day” after getting up and down from the bunker at 18 to sneak victory in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.
Havret won by a shot from Graeme Storm after a round of 70 gave him a 14 under par total.
It was Havret’s second victory on Scottish soil, after he won the 2007 Scottish Open after a tense play-off against Phil Mickelson.
The Frenchman birdied the second but dropped shots at the third and fifth as he looked to complete a wall-to-wall victory.
An eagle at the par five ninth and a birdie at 14 saw him reclaim the lead after the earlier players had moved ahead of him.
At the 15th - where the Frenchman had registered two double bogeys this week - Havret must have feared the worst when his second shot found the bunker.
But he chipped to 12 feet and holed a steady putt to save par.
A birdie at the par five 16th put Havret back in the lead and he was just two pars away from victory.
The 17th was successfully negotiated and the title looked his after two safety-first shots at the par five 18th. But he shanked his third shot into the greenside bunker and he could only splash out to 10 feet.
Sure enough he holed a testing putt to avoid a play-off.
Afterwards Havret said: “It was definitely a tough day.
“I remember last year at Loch Lomond, I was up and down from the trap also.”
Earlier, Storm compiled a back nine 32 to set the clubhouse lead at 13 following a 68.
Storm dropped a shot at six and had to wait for the par five ninth before he made his first birdie.
But having registered one he then proceeded to pick up shots at the tenth, 11th and 12th on a day when no fewer than seven different players held a share of the lead at some stage.
Storm birdied 15 and 16 to take the lead outright as overnight leader Havret faltered but a bogey at 17 dented his chances.
But Storm responded magnificently with a birdie at the last and clenched his fist to celebrate a fine round.
Sweden’s Peter Hanson earlier shot 69 to complete his four rounds in an 11 under par 281 and claim a share of third place.
England’s David Howell was the other to finish ten under for the tournament after a birdie-birdie finish helped him to a 71.
