Australian Marcus Both scored an emotional two-shot victory at the Philippine Open on Sunday to seal an amazing comeback following a year in which he almost quit.
Both, 35, sank a bogey on the last hole at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club course in Manila to give him his third Asian Tour victory after winning the 2009 Cambodian Open and the 2003 Sanya Open in China.
He posted a two-under-par 70 for a winning total of six-under-par in the $US300,000 ($A324,000) tournament.
Second place was a five-way tie at 284 between Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman, Australian Nathan Holman, Thailand's Arnond Vongvanij and Antonio Lascuna and Jay Bayron, both of the Philippines.
Both, who lost his Asian Tour card last season after a run of poor form and had to rely on a sponsor's invitation this week, later said he was close to leaving the game recently.
"People say they haven't seen me smile this much ever," he said.
"The last 12 months have been really tough. I kind of feel some vindication in some ways for making the choices that I have.
"It was an emotional year on and off the golf course after I lost my Tour card... It was so bad that I even thought of quitting the game."
Winning did not come easy for Both, who had to make a huge 20-foot birdie putt on 15 followed by a short birdie on 16 to win the top prize of $US54,000 ($A58,000).
"I hit my putt on 15th a bit too hard but it went in. I gave it a bit more speed than what I had intended to. Then I hit one of my best swings on 16 and the wind died when I needed it to. Those two holes gave me some momentum," he said.
