Home crowd favourite Francesco Molinari beat England's Danny Willett by one shot for his second Italian Open title and in the process gained 500,000 points to make a sizeable jump in the European Tour Race to Dubai from 41st to 19th position.
With a total of 1,011,107 points for the season, the Italian secured his spot in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, taking place at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai from 17- 20 November.
The 33 year old, who has played in all seven editions of the season-ending grand finale in Dubai, became the first Italian to win the same European Tour event twice after recording a final round of 65 for a 22-under par total of 262 at the Milan Golf Club event at Monza's Royal Park course, having claimed his maiden triumph in 2006.
Molinari was four shots clear with six holes to play but Masters Tournament champion Willett, one of seven European Ryder Cup players competing in Milan, cut the gap to one with a birdie and an eagle at the 13th and 14th respectively but was unable to save any more shots on down the homeward stretch.
Willett's runner-up finish won him 333,330 points and solidified his pole position in the Race to Dubai rankings with an impressive season-total of 3,543,175 points.
Spain's Nacho Elvira and Chris Paisley of England tied for third place at 18-under and each gained 168,900 points. Elvira broke into the Race to Dubai's top 60, moving from 68th to 43rd with a season-total of 511,369 points, while Paisley moved 51 positions, jumping from 123rd to 72nd and upped his season-total to 337,610.
England's Richard Bland and David Horsey shared fifth place and each won 116,100 points in the process. Bland continues to make strides in the Race to Dubai rankings, moving from 33rd to 30th to take his season-total to 773,963 points while Horsey moved from 93rd to 67th, with a season-total of 358,346 points.
Spain’s Alejandro Canizares and Jorge Campillo shared seventh with England's Alexander Levy and Tommy Fleetwood - each of them winning 69,480 points. Canizares moved from 56th to 50th and his season-total is 466,149 points, while Campillo managed to move from 43rd to 40th, with a season total of 577,407 points.
Levy progressed from 55th to 49th and increased his season-total to 469,076 points, while Fleetwood is close to breaking into the Race to Dubai's top 60 as he moved from 79th to 65th and has a season-total of 366,278 points.
With only the top 60 players eligible for the field at Jumeirah Golf Estates competition for places is heating up as we enter the business end of the season and Francesco Molinari will be hoping he can continue his good form as he bids to top his career-best third place finish at last year’s tournament.
Chasing Willett for the Race to Dubai top spot is 2013 and 2014 DP World Tour Championship winner Henrik Stenson of Sweden, who also won the Race to Dubai winner in 2013 and is currently in second place with 3,130,447 points.
Reigning DP World Tour Championship and Race to Dubai champion, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, sits in third place with 2,487,204 points. Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello is in fourth with a total of 1,851,653 points and South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen rounds up the top five with a season-total of 1,693,329.
