Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines: Thongchai Jaidee secured his eighth European Tour title for the "biggest win" of his life at the 100th French Open on Sunday.
The 46-year-old from Lop Buri cruised to a four-shot win at Le Golf National and took home €583,330 (about 22.7 million baht) in prize money.
Thongchai went into the final round with a two-stroke lead and a fantastic three-under-par 68 helped him easily hold off the chasing pack with a total score of 273.
The former soldier finished ahead of Francesco Molinari of Italy who shot a 66 for 277 and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy who hit a 71 for 278.
Thongchai went 39 holes without a bogey on the challenging Albatros course, until he opted for safety on the 72nd hole with the title already all but assured.
A brace of birdies on each nine were enough for the world No.57 to seal his eighth European Tour title, with what was amazingly his first top-10 finish of the season.
"I'm very happy. I know that the golf course here is fantastic," said, Thongchai, who moved up to 37th from 52nd in yesterday's world rankings.
"I was looking at the leaderboard and thinking about how to play the course. The most important thing was to keep the ball on the fairways, but I was putting very well too.
"This week, I think it is the biggest win of my life.
"I'm very happy to have my family here this week together and also really happy to win the tournament here.
"Sometimes you need one perfect week. You can't do well every week. This week is my perfect week because I didn't miss much. Anything I missed, I found I could lay up and make a good shot and make par and that's it."
Thongchai's first four European Tour titles were all won in Asia, while the next four have all been captured in Europe.
His four victories on European soil all came after he turned 40 in 2009. They are the 2012 Wales Open, 2014 Nordea Masters, 2015 European Open and 2016 French Open.
At 46 years and 238 days, Thongchai became the oldest winner of the French Open since the event became part of the European Tour in 1972, beating the previous mark set by Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez, who was 46 years and 180 days in 2010.
On Sunday, Molinari rolled in seven birdies to give his hopes of making Darren Clarke's European team for the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine in September a massive boost.
This tournament just outside Paris offered double points for the Ryder Cup hopefuls, as well as counting as two events on the Race to Dubai.
McIlroy finished third on 278 after failing to find his best from tee to green and narrowly missing a succession of birdie putts.
The world No.4 began the day tied for second place with South Korea's Wang Jeung-Hun, but his only birdie came at the par-five 14th as he was forced to sign for an even-par closing effort of 71.
Nevertheless, this was a solid tournament for the four-time major champion on his return to action after missing the US Open cut at Oakmont, and a solid week on the 2018 Ryder Cup course is good preparation for the British Open at Royal Troon later this month.
"There were signs that my game was really good and heading in the right direction, and then today [Sunday] there were still some things that were good," McIlroy said.
"The way I felt out there and finishing third on my own makes it a decent week in that regard."
German Martin Kaymer, the 2009 winner, briefly threatened around the turn, but a flurry of dropped shots on the inward half saw the former world No.1 finish on four under par.
Wang totally collapsed after a double bogey on the second hole, with six further bogeys completing a miserable day and a seven-over-par round of 78.
The French Open had four spots for the British Open available to the highest players in the top 12 yet to qualify. Bangkok Post/Agencies