Paul Dunne had to settle for podium place Down Under as New Zealand's Ryan Fox won his first European Tour title with victory in the ISPS Handa World Super 6 in Perth.
The innovative event sees the players compete in three rounds of stroke play before the top 24 go head-to-head in six-hole knockout match play to determine the winner.
Fox defeated Spain's Adrian Otaegui 3&2 in the final at Lake Karrinyup after earlier narrow victories over Jazz Janewattananond, Kristoffer Reitan and Ireland's Dunne.
Dunne claimed third place after beating Zimbabwe's Scott Vincent on the first extra hole of the play-off for third/fourth place. That was good enough for the Greystones man to take home a cheque for €61,121 and move up to 41st in the Race to Dubai standings which are still led by Shane Lowry.
Dunne won’t be in the field for the WGC Mexico Championship which begins on Thursday with his next appearance coming at the Oman Open on Thursday week.
In the third place playoff he was two up after two in the battle for third but Vincent holed a long putt on the fifth and won the sixth to take it to the extra hole, where the Zimbabwean put his tee-shot in the grandstand.
That left the way clear for Dunne to hit the pin with what proved to be his final shot of the week after Vincent’s concession.
“I thought I had it won with two holes to go,” he said. “I was in nicely, five feet on the second-last hole, and Scott was 35 feet and he holed it.
“It was 99 yards, I couldn’t tell if it was going to play 110 or 120 with the wind. He went up first, I think he hit his 120 club and he flew it into the grandstand, so I kind of made up my mind and just hit a nice shot.
“Without the wind and the situation it’s a pretty basic shot, like 99 yards from a ball in hand, but it was nice to pull it off and get third place. I would have preferred to go a couple better.”
He added: “Six holes is so short, anything can happen. Normally in match play momentum is so important but over six holes you can’t even get momentum, it’s just a matter of throwing shocks in people’s faces and seeing how they react to it.”
Fox, who lost a play-off to Russell Knox in the Irish Open last year, said in an interview broadcast on Sky Sports: "I've been close a couple of times and it's certainly nice to get one over the line today in a place I hold pretty special. I've played a lot of golf here and always enjoyed myself.
“Adrian didn’t quite play to his best this afternoon but I’m quite happy to take advantage of that.
“I played great this afternoon and felt probably under the most control in all the matches so it was nice to finish in style.”
Dunne, who partnered Gavin Moynihan to victory in the GolfSixes event last year, added: “I’m good friends with Ryan so I’m happy for him. His first win has been coming for a long time. Obviously it’s at my expense so it’s a little bittersweet, but if I was to lose to anyone this week I’m happy it’s Ryan.”
Collated matchplay results in the European Tour World Super 6 (Gbr & Irl unless stated):
Super 6 Round 1:
Daniel Gale (Aus) lost to Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 2 down
Gregory Bourdy (Fra) lost to Min Woo Lee (Aus) at the 9th
Ben Campbell (Nzl) bt Clement Sordet (Fra) at the 7th
Scott Vincent (Zim) bt Wade Ormsby (Aus) 3 & 2
Matt Jager (Aus) bt Andrew Martin (Aus) at the 7th
Robert Macintyre lost to Connor Syme 1 down
Steven Jeffress (Aus) lost to Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) 1 down
Panuphol Pittayarat (Tha) bt Ben Evans at the 8th
Super 6 Round 2:
Adrian Otaegui (Spa) bt Per Langfors (Swe) 2 & 1
Ben Campbell (Nzl) bt Brad Kennedy (Aus) 1 up
Min Woo Lee (Aus) bt Thomas Pieters (Bel) 1 up
Scott Vincent (Zim) bt Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 2 up
Matt Jager (Aus) lost to Paul Dunne at the 8th
Connor Syme lost to Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 1 down
Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) lost to Ryan Fox (Nzl) at the 9th
Panuphol Pittayarat (Tha) lost to Kristoffer Reitan (Nor) 1 down
Super 6 quarter-finals:
Adrian Otaegui (Spa) bt Min Woo Lee (Aus) 2 up
Ben Campbell (Nzl) lost to Scott Vincent (Zim) at the 8th
Paul Dunne bt Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 1 up
Ryan Fox (Nzl) bt Kristoffer Reitan (Nor) 1 up
Super 6 semi-finals:
Adrian Otaegui (Spa) bt Scott Vincent (Zim) 3 & 2
Paul Dunne lost to Ryan Fox (Nzl) 1 down
Super 6 final:
Ryan Fox (Nzl) bt Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 3 & 2
Third place play-off:
Paul Dunne bt Scott Vincent (Zim) at the 7th
