Eleven groups before Aussie Andrew Dodt teed off overnight, Alex Noren began his final round at the BMW PGA Championship.
Eight birdies and a monumental closing eagle later, the Swede waltzed off with the European Tour's flagship tournament, the Wentworth course record and a win that befuddled even the new world No.8.
"It feels amazing and crazy because I had no intention of trying to win this morning," said Noren, who has won five of his past 17 European Tour events, but never played better than in his closing 62.
"I didn't even think about it when I came off the course quite angry (after the third round) after playing a good round and chipping it into the water from the back of the green on 18.
"It's a great feeling now but it feels unreal."
Dodt, who began almost two hours after Noren in the final group alongside Branden Grace, was in a group tied for the lead until the Swede's remarkable eagle on the 18th.
The Queenslander continued to hang tough until a double-bogey on the short 14th ended his title hopes.
Dodt rallied with two closing birdies on the par-fives — including a chip-in on the 17th — but his 73 left him four back at seven under and in a share of sixth.
It is the 31-year-old’s highest career finish in seven starts at the BMW PGA, beating his previous-best T39 of 2012.
He began with a bogey, but with recent WA PGA Championship winner Dimi Papadatos on his bag, seemed to steady when he chipped in for birdie from long range on the par-four third.
Another birdie on the fourth had the Aussie back on track, but several good rolls narrowly failed to drop late in the front nine as the field closed in.
The momentum was completely gone by the time he bogeyed the 11th, but it was only the errant 14th hole that ended his chances.
Dodt was one of eight Aussies to tee up at Wentworth, but only he and fellow Queenslander Scott Hend survived the 36-hole cut, the latter closing with a 69 to finish -2 for the week and T24.
But the day belonged to Noren, whose final seven holes were played in six under, despite making a meal of the relatively easy 17th.
"I putted probably the best I've ever putted," he said.
"This tournament in my mind compares a lot with a Major. The only thing I've wanted to do is play better against tougher fields and tougher courses and I view this as a very difficult course against a top field."
Noren flushed his final 5-iron to within 1.5m of the cup on the final hole, leaving himself an eagle try that ultimately won him the event with Francesco Molinari finishing at -9 as runner-up.
"It was a 5-iron yardage with a bit of adrenaline in there," Noren said.
"The flag was in a great position because I knew I couldn’t hit it over the green, and I could just hit it as hard as I could.
"It just came out perfect; that one shot you want to see in the air."